Lightning Never Strikes Twice
by HecateA
Summary: When her husband died, he protected Lily and their son from the killing curse. He also left her to pick up the pieces of herself, sift through the wreckage of a post-war world, and find a new family. AU. Written for the House Competition, Round 2 Standard.
1. After James

**Legal disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Content warning: **Blasphemy

**Author's note: **First AU ever waaaa. Shoutout to my team for getting me on the Lily!Lives Celestial Petals bandwagon and inspiring this. Shoutout to tumblr for showing me pictures of lichtenberg figures or lightning flowers (the marks that a lightning strike leaves on skin, among other things) for the first time. Thank you to everyone who beta'ed and helped me pick a title.

**Submitting info:**

**House: **Hufflepuff

**Year: **Second year

**Category: **Drabble, Second round

**Prompt:** [Speech] "Keep talking. I'm starting to believe you."

**Word Count:** 1994

* * *

**Lightning Never Strikes Twice**

"_As different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire." _

― _Emily Brontë_

Remus grabbed Sirius' arm, halting his progress. His eyes transitioned from widened shock to glazed over and distant when he saw the body at their feet. His glasses had slid down his nose, and his eyes were frozen open. How strange it was, for James' eyes to look cold…

"Lily!" Sirius cried. "Lily!"

As soon as they heard something, they shot up the stairs, bypassing James. They froze in the doorway of Harry's room when they saw the cold, pale figure in black…

Remus looked away from Voldemort's body over to Lily who sat with her back to Harry's crib. The baby was swaddled in the striped blanket Mrs. Pettigrew had knitted and pressed against her chest. She was wearing her black dressing robe and her red hair covered her face. She dropped the wand she was holding—it wasn't hers, it must be…

If Remus hadn't seen Harry's bedroom a hundred times, helped to paint it actually, he might not recognize the space. Most of the furniture was toppled over. The window was gone. A mismeasured potion may as well have exploded.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Lily asked. "I heard… He fell."

"Jesus," Sirius said, jumping over the corpse and falling to his knees at her side. "Jesus Lily, thank God you're… Thank God… Harry?"

"He's okay," Lily said weakly, looking up. The scar on her face chilled his blood— it was like a lightning bolt, a sharp line across her face from which others streaked and zigzagged… It started on her chest and shot its way up her neck and jaw, ending just under her eye.

She took deep, measured breaths.

"I didn't have my wand, I had to… I had to use _his _to send you a Patronus," Lily said. "I was sure we were going to die. He shot a killing curse at me."

Remus looked down at the pale, quasi-human body blocking the nursery's door frame. He felt in a fog—James, dead. Voldemort, also dead. This meant…

He joined Lily. Harry wore the red and gold pajamas that James had liked the most. He wondered if that was the last outfit his father had chosen. The baby looked around curiously and smiled when he saw Remus.

"Moo-moo!"

"Hi sweetheart," Remus said, touching his hair. He slipped his wand in his belt.

"Lily, I can take—"

Lily cut Sirius off. "I'll carry him. Don't… don't touch the body."

"Okay. We need to get you out of this house, it isn't solid."

Sirius helped Lily up. Remus and Sirius framed Lily, guiding her out of Harry's bedroom and through the now-ruined house. When they got to the top of the staircase, Sirius summoned a blanket to cover James' body. Lily's breath caught in her throat anyways.

"Let's go out the back door," Remus suggested quietly. They did. While they were cutting through the kitchen, Lily stopped, her eyes kept shut.

"My wand—I think it's by the sink, I was doing dishes…"

Remus found it and placed it in her outstretched hand. He held the door open while Sirius steered her out. They rounded the house, stepped over the hose in the garden, walked along Bathilda Bagshot's neat lines of rose bushes… In front of the house stood Bathilda and Dumbledore along with a clique of Aurors and Healers.

"Thank Merlin," Bathilda said. "I called Dumbledore as soon as I saw him…"

"He's dead," Sirius said heavily. They'd imagined this moment, but as a happy one.

"Lily, my dear…" Dumbledore said.

"I don't know how we're alive," Lily said. "James is dead, but we're alive…"

Dumbledore looked to Sirius sharply. "How did he know? How did he know where to find…"

"I wasn't the Secret-Keeper," Sirius said.

"What?" Remus asked.

"We switched," Sirius said. "Three… three days ago?"

"Three days," Lily nodded. "Where's Peter? Is he okay? Sirius, Remus, you have to go find him…"

"I'll send Alastor to check on him," Dumbledore said coolly.

"I can take the baby, dear," Bathilda said.

"No," Lily said holding Harry tightly.

"We won't let him out of your sight, Lily," Dumbledore promised.

Lily fell apart. Sirius held her against his chest.

"He's dead," Lily said. "He's dead…"

"I know," Sirius said. Remus saw him holding back tears. "I know, I can't believe…"

Remus wiped at his own eyes and turned to Dumbledore and Moody, presumably there as Head Auror.

"We didn't touch anything," he said. "But we covered James."

"Good. And the Dark Lord..?"

"Is dead," Remus said just as quietly. "Upstairs. I don't understand what happened. Lily doesn't know. But she has a scar on her face… I don't think she knows, I have no idea what it is."

Dumbledore turned to look at her and Sirius, crying in each other's arms. When Harry started crying, Lily wiped her eyes and kissed his hair soothingly.

"Mama's okay, Harry's okay," she whispered to him. "Harry's okay, Mama's okay. Harry's okay, Mama's okay…"

* * *

With Lily and Harry in Remus' room, the two men spent a lot of time lying in Sirius' bed together, looking at the ceiling and thinking too much. The night before the trial was the worst. They were exhausted. Last night, Remus had transformed for the first time without the stag and the rat around. Ultimately, they gave up on sleep at 2:00 a.m., made coffee, and sat in the living room quietly.

In the morning, Lily emerged wearing a black Muggle dress and blazer. Her hair was pulled back tightly, exposing the breadth and intricacy of the lightning scar.

"You look good," Sirius promised, handing her coffee. "And Harry, you're so, so handsome, come here…"

"Toast?" Remus offered. "Eggs?"

"No thank you. I'm going to be sick."

"Brilliant. We can coordinate and all throw up on the Wizenmagot at the same time, then."

Lily's fingers curled around her cup.

"I hope he rots in Azkaban," she said bitterly.

"He will," Remus promised.

Lily toyed with her wedding ring. "Dumbledore told me they held the Snape trial yesterday. He tried to appeal for a lighter sentence, saying he'd asked Voldemort to spare James and I when he came for the baby. Dumbledore reckons that's why the Killing Curse bounced off of us because James didn't have to die. But... he did. Harry's life was at stake. I would have died too."

What could he answer?

"Don't worry about Severus," Remus said. "Focus on Pettigrew. That's who we're testifying against today."

"I know he might get fussy, but I'm bringing Harry into the courtroom with me," Lily said. "So Peter can remember what he did."

"Okay," Remus said. "Okay. Finish your coffee before we go."

Lily pushed it away and ran her palms over her eyes.

* * *

Mrs. Pettigrew found them after the trial.

"Don't speak to me," Lily said.

"Lily, dear…" She looked heartbroken.

"I said no," Lily snapped. "Your son became a Death Eater, now mine doesn't have a father. Leave us alone."

_The Prophet _gobbled it up, of course.

* * *

"My wand," Lily panicked. "Where's my wand!"

"Lily, it's here," Sirius said, grabbing it from the counter and bringing it to her. He put it in her hands and closed her fingers around it. "It's here."

"I've got to stop being this stupid," Lily said. He couldn't tell if her tears were frustrated, scared or angry. "I have to stop leaving it laying around…"

"Lily, you're safe here," Sirius said. He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her. She shook like a leaf. "Absolutely safe."

* * *

"We need to invest in some chairs," Remus said, stepping onto their rickety patio. Lily sat alone, the Muggle baby monitor she'd bought resting on her lap.

"Did Sirius send you?"

"I came myself," Remus said. "Why?"

"Don't play innocent, I know how he worries," Lily said. "I appreciate your hospitality, honestly, but Harry and I should get out from under your legs."

"Absolutely not," Remus said. "Did it occur to you that Sirius and I don't want to be without you either?"

Lily was quiet.

"I don't think I'm good company right now."

She _had _shattered the lenses of twelve _Prophet _cameras in Diagon Alley today with a wave of her wand. He didn't disapprove: it was just…

"Talk to me," Remus said quietly.

"I feel like I can spit fire," Lily said harshly. "I feel mean and I like it. And if Harry wasn't here, I would set everything on fire. And I hate all of that because it's not me."

"But it is like someone who's been gravely hurt," Remus said. "And you have."

Lily made a small sound, hiding her face in her hands to muffle the rest. But she was clearly crying.

"It hurts," she said. "So much. And the only person who could make it better is gone."

"I know," Remus said, gathering her in his arms. "I know he is. And the rest of us who are still here, we're not the same but we still love you, and we love Harry. And we're all going to get through this because of all that love, okay?"

"Okay," Lily said. "I just, I feel so… wrong."

"That's because you're the kindest person I've ever met," Remus said. "Truly. And that kindness was used against you and that was so wrong."

"I won't let it change me," Lily said fiercely. "I'm trying not to."

"I know you won't," Remus said. "Which is why it's allowed to be bad right now."

She leaned against his shoulder, and they looked at London sprawled below.

* * *

Since Harry favoured waddling rather than sitting in the stroller, expeditions to the park took forever and a day and required lots of bundling up.

Lily spent quite a bit of time looking over her shoulder.

"Hey," Sirius said, slowing to match her pace. "We're safe."

"Right," Lily said.

"Could've fooled me, Evans..."

"I'm a mother," Lily said. "It's my job not to believe it, just in case."

That's when Harry's started laughing up ahead. Remus had him hanging upside down and was making the monster sounds he so liked.

"Harry, what are you doing upside down, silly? What are you doing?" Lily asked.

"Pafoo! Help!" Harry giggled.

"I can't Harry, Moony's too strong!" Sirius called back.

Harry laughed and laughed, and Lily joined in, too. Sirius squeezed her hand.

"Evans, we'll take you as you are and can be. Please keep laughing."

* * *

"Listen, this flat is the worst," Sirius said. Again, they were on the patio—now with wine. "Harry needs more room, less asbestos, and a backyard. Wouldn't it be great for Harry to have a backyard?"

"With swings," Lily added shyly.

"Yes," Remus encouraged.

"Well, I'm back to tutoring Slughorn's students a few nights a week and the media buzz has gone down. We should…"

"No, not you and Harry," Sirius said. "Don't be silly, Evans. _All_ of us."

Lily frowned. "But…"

"We _like _you," Sirius said. "We want to stay together. Just in a house instead of this overpriced shoebox."

"I'm sure there's something to be found," Remus said, taking her hand.

Sirius put his arm around her. "We'll move before Harry starts preschool. Find a place near a nice park and a coffee shop you and Remus can become regulars at…"

"A new place near the sea, or in the country, or in the middle of nowhere where nobody knows anything."

"Some place with a funny name so even getting the mail's a laugh."

"A place with a farmer's market."

"Hell, we could even build one. So what do you say, Evans? This could be good…" Sirius said.

Lily smiled. It was the bright, genuine smile James had fallen in love with, the one that the whole world was in love with really, and that Sirius and Remus had been hoping for and trying to tease out for months now.

"Keep talking. I'm starting to believe you," she said.


	2. Before Hogwarts

**Well, there were a lot of follows on that first chapter and some excitement about it from the friends I spoke to. Leave a review if you like it and are excited to see how the Hogwarts years go down, I suppose.**

**Disclaimer: I continue to not own Harry Potter, unbelievably. **

* * *

_Chapter 2_

_Before Hogwarts_

* * *

_2 years old_

Harry had seen Lily answer the Muggle phone they kept hidden in the cupboard for emergencies once (_once) _and had been absolutely intrigued. Now he enjoyed walking around the house and picking up random objects to hold to his ear, saying 'ello?,' and starting conversations. Any adult getting anywhere near Harry was warned about this. Today, his phone of choice was one of Sirius' shoes.

"Ello? Dada?" Harry asked.

Lily's shoulders tensed, and she was thankful that Remus was nearby so that she could continue unpacking a box of dishes and cutlery while he scooped up Harry.

"Daddy can't come to the phone right now, love. Wait… Hello? Harry? Can you hear me?" Remus asked, taking Sirius' shoe and holding it up to his own ear.

Harry laughed and Lily looked over her shoulder.

"Careful with your arm, Remus," Lily said. His broken arm, an old injury that never had time to heal quite right from one full moon to another, had been acting up again.

"I'm alright, he's not so heavy," Remus said. "Not so heavy but growing _so _fast."

Harry opened and closed his tiny hands, and Remus passed the shoe back.

"Ello? Moo?" Harry tried again.

"How can I answer the phone when you're holding it? Really, Harry…"

The backdoor swung open, and Lily startled even if it was just Sirius.

"Ello? Pafoo!"

"Hello Harry," Sirius said holding his wallet up to his ear. Harry laughed. Two-year olds were so pleasantly easy to entertain, and they'd mercifully seemed to stumble across a tame case of the terrible twos. Between the three of them, they were nearly able to keep up with him.

"Alright," Sirius said. "Lily, is this the right thing you wanted?"

He held up the outlet cover and Lily nodded, a little shocked that Sirius had been able to find it in some Muggle hardware store in the first place. Truth be told, she'd hoped he wouldn't. It was the last thing they needed to baby-proof Harry's room, which meant they could finally bring him there. That was what Lily had told Remus and Sirius, anyways, and she knew she was going to be held to that today.

Lily took a deep breath. She tried to remind herself that settling into this house, bringing Harry to his bedroom, wouldn't make their move and everything that had led to it more real. There was no getting away from that.

"Hey," Sirius said squeezing her hand. "This house is amazing. We're going to have such good times here. It's not sad, it's happy."

"Happy," Lily nodded. Happy, happy, happy. Harry made her happy.

"Come on baby," she said, lifting Harry from Remus' arms. "Let's go see your new room!"

They'd left the walls white so that Harry could chose a colour when he was old enough to have a favourite. Until then, they'd brought in every colour of the rainbow via toy boxes, a colourful carpet, yellow drapes, and a tiny little table set where they could sit and draw with Harry. Hipprogriff stickers on the walls flew around the room and galloped across the ceiling, occasionally perching in corners to peck at their feathers. The rocking chair they'd salvaged from Godric's Hollow sat in one corner, and Lily was immensely grateful for it. She and James had taken turns spending long nights sitting there, cooing and feeding and soothing and singing to Harry, or telling him stories and burping him and playing with him and ticking him. It was nice that something concrete had made the transition from there to here.

"Here we are," Lily said plopping Harry down on the floor. "Go explore, love. This is going to be home."

After obtaining what they took to be Harry's seal of approval, that night they toasted the house and nicknamed it The Woodland.

* * *

_3_

"Beautiful," Slughorn said, looking at the picture of Harry Lily had brought. It was a quick little picture she'd taken of him over Christmas, sitting in a pile of discarded tissue paper and ribbon. Lily was dropping a big sheet of wrapping paper which fluttered down and landed on his head, and he laughed before pushing it away.

"He is," Lily smiled, tucking it back into her coat pocket. She and Slughorn met about once a month for coffee or lunch, and today he'd insisted on paying since she'd translated a Medieval antidote potions recipe written in Ancient Runes for him. "He's starting preschool next year. He's basically an adult."

Slughorn laughed.

"Well Mrs. Potter, there's an interesting way to branch off of that and into my next question for you," he said, buttering a slice of Madam Rosmerta's fresh soda bread—a real treat. James used to swipe brown sugar from the kitchens to sprinkle over a heavily buttered slice, and Lily loved it so much that she couldn't protest at its origins.

"Oh," Lily said, closing her hands around her cup of coffee and leaning back in her chair. "Always so full of surprises, Professor Slughorn…"

"Horace, Lily, I've told you a million times," he said. She smiled. She did it to annoy him. "Or Professor Potter, as I'd hope."

"What on earth do you mean?" Lily asked.

"I plan on retiring," Slughorn said.

"Congratulations!" Lily said. "You've had a long career."

"I have, and I quite hoped you would be the one to replace me…" Slughorn said.

"I could never," Lily laughed.

"You were one of my most brilliant students," Slughorn said. "None of the students I've sent your way continued failing my classes once they'd had your help. You are exceptionally gifted, but exceptionally kind and patient and helpful which is so important in a teacher. I've talked with the headmaster and he quite agrees. Both of us are of the opinion that it would be quite easy to arrange for you and Harry to both come live at Hogwarts during the school year, and have him looked after during the day while you taught…"

"Professor, I could never," Lily repeated again, putting her cup down. "No student would learn a single thing about potions with this scar to look at."

"Lily!" Slughorn said, flabbergasted.

"I'm not being vain," Lily said. "I'm being serious. I'm the Girl who Lived, didn't you hear? _The Prophet _ran a piece all about it to celebrate the two year anniversary a few months ago."

"You are far more than that," Slughorn insisted.

"That's very kind," Lily said. "But I'm not interested in taking any space I'm not thrust into by that charming Rita Skeeter. I'm happy where I am, I'm finally getting used to the new house, and I like the translation and the tutoring that I do. Please, pass my contact information along to whoever replaces you."

"I have no idea who will if you're sure you won't," Slughorn said.

"A capable instructor, I'm sure," Lily said. "Now tell me, what will you do with this retirement of yours?"

* * *

_4_

"Mama," Harry said as they walked home from preschool.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Lily asked.

"Sara doesn't have a Padfoot," Harry said. "Or a Moony."

"No?" Lily asked. Sara was the little girl who wore yellow rainboots regardless of weather who got dropped off by her mom every morning—a heavily pregnant woman who was always happy to talk to Lily in the schoolyard. She and Harry had seemed to become friends, which was a relief given how shy he'd been at the start of his preschool career.

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "Sara has a mama, a dad, and a little brother soon."

"That's nice," Lily said.

"Where are Sara's Padfoot and Moony?" Harry asked.

"Well, not everyone is lucky to have two uncles like you," Lily said. "Especially not lucky enough to have two uncles who also live in the same house. It's fun, isn't it? Who would make pancakes on Sunday if Moony wasn't with us? And whose motorbike would you ride if Padfoot wasn't here?"

Oh yes, Lily had recently found out about some recent trips her son and his idiot godfather were going on. Lily had technically never forbidden Sirius from taking her son zooming around on that death trap of his, nor had he really ever asked her if he could, so this wasn't breaking any rules. But then again, some things were so obvious, you shouldn't really have to, and Lily had expected mixing motorcycles and small children to be one of those things. Bold of her, to assume that Sirius Black would do the maths.

Still, she brought it up now to try and derail her son's current train of thought because she was pretty sure she knew where this was going and had no desire to reach the destination.

"Why does Sara have a dad and not me?" Harry asked.

And, there it was.

"You do have a dad," Lily said carefully. "His names is James. He loves you a lot—just as much as Sara's dad loves her. He just can't be here right now."

"Why?" Harry asked. "Where is he?"

"Do you know what's in the fridge at home? Pink lemonade," Lily said. "How about we talk about it once we have some pink lemonade and maybe even cookies? We're not too too far from home. Then I'll… I'll tell you."

She didn't know how, but she would.

* * *

_5_

Lily had found a box of family albums in the Gringotts vault that even James mustn't have known about. They had put Harry to bed, poured themselves generous glasses of wine, and bundled up in the biggest blanket that could be found in the parlour before cracking the albums open.

There were pictures of Mr and Mrs Potter's wedding before they'd come from Jamaica, of Mr Potter at the launch of several of his potions, of Mrs Potter volunteering in various functions at St-Mungo's. And of course James who, having been an only and highly spoiled child, had been photographed largely.

"So we've really got a James Potter clone on our hands, huh?" Sirius said glancing up at a picture from Harry's first day of Muggle preschool on the fireplace mantle. They were nearly identical.

Lily drained her wine, and dropped her head to Remus' shoulder.

* * *

_6_

"He's got your kindness," Sirius informed her, cracking the doorway of the study.

"What makes you say that?" Lily asked, looking up from the runes she was translating for a client.

"Yesterday, he asked me to pack an extra sandwich in his lunch because the boy he shares a desk with might not have one," Sirius said.

Lily smiled.

"Please do."

"Gave the kid a juice box, too," Sirius said.

* * *

_7_

"Se…"

"Ser," Remus said gently.

"Serendeep…"

"Serendip…"

"Serendipeetee," Harry read.

"Serendipity," Remus said.

He tried not to smile, lest Harry think he was laughing at him. Really, he was just impressed by the amount of energy Harry was dedicating, as he did after every full moon, to orbiting around Remus and spending time with him and taking care of him. Harry had come to find Remus in the solarium as soon as he'd come home from school and crawled on him and had wanted to know all about what Remus was reading.

"You're right Moony, your books are too hard," Harry said nudging the book back towards his uncle. "I'm gonna have to practice reading more."

"Maybe. Do you want to go get one of yours that we can read instead?" Remus said.

"That's probably a good idea," Harry admitted, jumping off his knee. They'd brought him to the library just last weekend, so his new pile of books was still interesting.

"Do you want me to bring another blanket?" Harry asked.

"I'm okay, thank you," Remus said.

"Okay. I'll bring us tea," Harry said as he wandered out of the solarium.

"Lovely, thank you," Remus smiled. It was sweet. It was also so like James.

* * *

_8_

"I would like you to tell me what you did," Lily said.

"The teacher wrote a note," Harry muttered.

"Yes, but I would like to hear it from you," Lily said, crossing her arms. She, in fact, had said note in her hand right now. Harry wouldn't meet her eyes. "Harry James Potter, I have all day to stand here and wait for you to tell me what happened at school today. But you should know that the longer we do this, the less impressed I'm going to be."

Harry weighed his options considerably.

"I put frogs in Jeremy Martin's backpack."

"You did," Lily said. "Thank you for your honesty. Can you tell me why you did that?"

"Because he told Sara that her mom was fat," Harry said.

"Okay," Lily said. Now they were getting somewhere. "That wasn't kind of him to say, was it?"

"No!" Harry said. "See?"

"I _see _that Jeremy was being unkind. I do not see why you had to act inappropriately," Lily said. She wasn't even sure how Harry had managed to smuggle frogs into the school, but that was besides the point. She'd probably be able to find that out from Sirius or Remus, who would undoubtedly ask themselves (or had maybe counselled Harry in the first place). "Being unkind to unkind people doesn't make the unkindness okay, Harry. We know that. What could you have done differently?"

"Nothing!" Harry said defensively.

"Deep breath," Lily said. "What about telling a teacher?"

"The teacher doesn't care about Sara because she has a stutter and everyone thinks she's dumb," Harry said.

Lily chewed her lip. "I'm… sure that's not true."

"I'm not lying!"

"I'm not saying that you're lying," Lily said. "How about after supper, you and I go sit on the porch and talk about some other things you could have done? Then we'll think of a way to apologize to Jeremy."

"I don't want to," Harry said. "He's stupid."

"That's not nice," Lily said.

"Neither is he!" Harry said. "He made Sara _and _Anthony cry yesterday and he steals marbles all the time."

"Sounds like a real jerk," Sirius said.

"Get out of the kitchen, you're not part of this discussion," Lily said. She turned back to her son.

"Padfoot agrees with me," Harry said defensively.

"Padfoot is not your mother, unfortunately for you."

* * *

_9_

"Well, this is it," Sirius said. "The beginning of the end."

"You're being dramatic," Remus said, swirling his drink.

Everyone else had gone home after Sirius' surprise party, but after they'd sent Harry to bed and cleaned up a _little _bit Sirius had said that he refused to be old and go to bed before midnight on his birthday, and ergo decided to crack open a really, _really _nice bottle of Firewhisky he'd been given.

"You say that because your birthday's only in November," Sirius said. "You'll see then. We're _old now, _Moony."

"We're not old we're thirty," Lily said, though the drink had gotten to her head a bit and now she was starting to fall down the rabbit hole Sirius had not only fallen into, but had blown up with a stick of dynamite to make bigger. Maybe she was old. Her child was nearly ten. And if he kept sneaking out at night to wander the garden and look at the stars, she'd probably start greying too. On account of being old and all. "Oh God…"

"_Exactly," _Sirius said. "She gets it. And James would get it too."

That was uncomfortable, but one of Sirius' nine distinct drunken personalities was Honesty Sirius. That was the Sirius that had told Lily, at a party in sixth year, that James was his favourite person in the world and that he'd changed, and that Lily should give him a chance. Honesty Sirius was right up there with Slutty Sirius, as far as consistency went, and so Lily knew he was right.

Lily lifted her glass. "To getting old."

"To getting old," the boys repeated.

* * *

_10 _

So while Sirius was a big, big fan of the fact that his job was essentially to run around and try to break centuries-old magical barriers by any and all means necessary, when he got back to Gringotts he was going to have a few hissy fits and maybe break a few bones. This had _not _been a day trip to Wales but rather a three-day ordeal to break into an ancient Welsh king's tomb during which he'd been unable to backtrack or communicate with the outside world.

He'd finally managed to undo the last major enchantment, had secured the crown and arrowheads he'd been sent in for, had stuffed them in his safekeeping bag, and had gone home immediately. If Gringotts was going to wait to give him crucial case facts, they could also wait for him to sleep off a shitty job, eat a bunch of food, and shower before getting their treasure.

When he opened the front door, he called in to the others that it was him. He was fully equipped to face Lily and Remus' respective wraths about disappearing, but before he could beg for forgiveness, Harry ploughed into him, arms wrapped around his waist.

"Hey," Sirius said, wrapping his arms around his godson. "Hi, hello."

"You were gone so long," Harry said, his face buried in the fabric of Sirius' coat.

"I know, I'm sorry," Sirius said. "I'm pretty mad about it too. That means you had that spelling bee yesterday, right? Did you get first place or what?"

Harry didn't say anything, he just snuggled more. Sirius looked up and saw Lily, pale and relieved looking, and Remus who just bore that façade of annoyance and judgement that Sirius had come to associate with fondness.

"Don't be gone that long ever again," Harry said so earnestly that Sirius nearly promised to quit his job.

"I'm really sorry," Sirius said. "But you should know I'll always come back, okay?"

"Okay," Harry said. "And I finished first."

"Yeah you did!" Sirius said, ruffling Harry's hair. "That's Remus and Lily rubbing off on you. I'm super proud of you. Let's go get celebration ice cream!"

"It's 8:00 PM at night," Harry said.

"Can you spell 'celebration?'" Sirius asked. "Come on, let's go! Lily, Remus, you get your coats too now..."

* * *

_11_

"Mum! Mum, Mum, Mum!" She heard Harry's feet scrambling all over the hardwood floor right before the study door flew open.

"Harry, what did we say about knocking before coming into the—"

She trailed off when she spun around to face the door. He grinned and held up the creamy letter in his hands.

"It's a Hogwarts letter!" he said.

Lily didn't know what to say. Of course, this wasn't altogether a surprise. And it _was _the most important day of Harry's little life so far. But her blood froze in her veins. This was it. He was eleven, he had his letter, he was going to… he was going to be leaving.

"Well," she said smiling anyways. "What does it say?"

"I don't know," Harry said. "I saw it and got so excited that I just came here."

Lily laughed.

"Well come here, let's find a letter opener…"

She wrapped her arms around him while he opened the letter and read the green-inked words out loud.


	3. Philosopher's Stone: Ten Years a Widow

**Thank you for the reviews everyone, please keep them coming as my university tries to kill me with the assistance of my three jobs! I polished up this chapter to celebrate that the first chapter of this fic, originally due to stand alone, has just gotten full marks from the House Cup! So hurray, hurray, hurray. Thank you for reading! **

**Disclaimer: In a shocking turn of events, I continue to not own Harry Potter, unbelievably.**

* * *

_3_

_Philosopher's Stone / __Ten Years a Widow _

* * *

When they left Madam Malkin's shop with Harry's new robes in hand, Lily pulled him aside.

"Did that boy you were talking to tell you his name?" she asked.

"Draco Malfoy," Harry said.

"Right," Lily said. "Was he friendly?"

"He said things about blood purity..." Harry said, shifting uncomfortably. "I didn't understand everything and I didn't want to be rude but… but I didn't like it."

"Okay," Lily said. "You're right, Harry. Blood purity doesn't mean anything. It's very dangerous to believe it, actually. That's one of the things that was important to Voldemort, and it's one of the reasons he hated people like me."

"Muggleborns," Harry said.

"Exactly," Lily said. "The Malfoy family was on Voldemort's side, during the war. If you're friends with their son, that's okay, maybe he'll be your best friend in the world. But the second he starts saying things that you don't like, you leave. Walk away, tell him to stop, whatever you need to do. You have my permission to be rude about it, but never mean. You don't have to be around that, and you shouldn't be. Does that make sense, Harry?"

"I don't want to be friends with him," Harry said. "I'll make other friends at Hogwarts. Right?"

"Of course, you will, love," Lily said, pushing the hair out of his face. "Of course, you will."

That was when Remus and Sirius, giddy as schoolchildren, rejoined them holding up a cage containing a beautiful snowy owl.

"We got you a bit of an extra-late birthday present," Sirius said, grinning. "But it's on the school list, so your Mum can't get mad."

Lily wasn't sure that's what that meant at all, but Harry was so delighted and breathtaken by the bird's striking white plumage that she knew she'd drop it.

* * *

"Congrats on waiting until he was on the train to cry," Sirius said.

"Shut up, Black," Lily said. She turned to Remus. "And you. How long have you been working on that chocolate frog collection for him?"

"Before he was born," Remus said as if that was obvious. She could have started crying again. "Oh, Lily, he'll be fine at Hogwarts. He'll be perfectly safe, he'll be with kids his age, he'll be under Dumbledore's watch…"

"I know," Lily said. "And funny enough it's not making me feel better about… well, my baby's grown up, hasn't he?"

"Remus and I had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't," Sirius said. "So we made reservations at that Vietnamese restaurant you like."

Lily laughed. "My angels. Okay, let's go."

She took the arm Sirius offered her, and they made their way out of the platform. They walked by a little girl with a shock of red hair being comforted by her mother, whose eyes lingered on Lily. It wasn't like she wasn't used to it—even in the Muggle world, the lightning scar gathered attention. In the wizard world, it held so much weight…

Lily smiled at the little girl.

"You're Ron's new friend's mum," the little girl said. Her own mother turned around.

"Is Ron your brother?" Lily said, making the connection between the fiery red hair and splash of freckles she sported with the little boy who had been sitting in Harry's train compartment, waving.

The little girl nodded. "And I'm Ginny. I get to go next year."

"Lucky you," Lily said. "Hogwarts is a _lot_ of fun, and you get to learn lots."

"I already know how to fly a broom," Ginny said.

"Which you are not supposed to do," her mother chided. "Honestly, I could strangle Bill for letting you. I'm Molly, Molly Weasley."

"Lily Potter," Lily said extending her hand. It felt like a useless introduction, the scar usually did the talking, but Molly shook her head warmly.

She introduced Remus and Sirius (the latter had apparently worked with Bill Weasley as a cursebreaker before he'd been sent abroad), and they chatted a little bit. Lily knew of Molly from Fabian and Gideon Prewett, but they had never met. Eventually, Ginny had had enough of grown-ups being grown-ups, so she cut in.

"Mum, are we going to go get ice cream like last year?" Ginny asked.

"Don't interrupt dear, though look at the time… I suppose we best be off," Molly said. "Send me an owl, Lily, it would be lovely to have you over for tea."

"It would," Lily said. "It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, dear," Molly said. "Ginny what do you say?"

"Bye," she said.

"Enjoy your ice cream," Remus said. Sirius winked at Ginny and she grinned.

"That was nice," Remus said once they left the station.

"Look at you, being a Mom bonding with other Moms," Sirius said, nudging her.

Lily chewed her lip. She knew that she'd been highly overprotective of Harry. That was true. He'd never had young wizarding friends, she hadn't wanted to expose him to more of his past than she had to until it was unavoidable.

"If he does make friends with that Ron boy, that'd be good," Sirius said. "Prewetts are good people, Weasleys too."

"And Lily can have a friend too," Remus teased.

Lily smiled. Over her pho, she spilled her anxiety out at the boys.

"I just… There's so much for him to learn and experience at Hogwarts and a lot of it is going to be so, so good. But so much of it… so much of it is going to hurt. I don't know if we've… maybe I should have told him more. I didn't know how to prepare him for this, I don't know if I've done enough- I don't even know how to be a good mother, and this is so, so different from…"

"Hey," Remus said, taking her hand. "You're a wonderful mother. We've had that discussion before, we're not opening again, it's just fact."

"I second that, you're outvoted," Sirius said. He reached over and took Lily's other hand, pulling it out of her hair where it was twisting nervously. "Evans? He's there now. You've done so much for him, and he'll be good. He's Harry: he's the best."

Lily smiled, thinking of how sweet he'd been to her this morning.

"He is," Lily smiled.

* * *

Lily sat outside on the porch swing, taking advantage of the unusually warm Fall and getting away from the other two while she was at it. She had a cup of tea in one hand, McGonagall's letter in the other, and her favourite blue blanket around her shoulders. It was another save from Godric's Hollow, something that had been tucked away in a chest in the living room and had survived the spell blasts and the house's eventual collapse. If Voldemort hadn't burst into their home, there was a big chance that she and James would have spent the night bundled up in it, watching a movie or listening to the radio or scanning _The Prophet_ for any codes or secret messages…

By the time Remus found her, guided through the backyard by a quick _lumos_, she'd moved on to her spot under the alder tree further out into the yard. He sat down next to her and closed his fingers around the letter. He gave her a look, and once she nodded back he took it from her and looked over it again.

"'With your written permission, Captain Oliver Wood and I would be thrilled to invite Harry to take his place as Gryffindor's Seeker. The boy was eager to learn more about Quidditch and showed exceptional talent reminiscent of his father. I do believe James would be proud,'" Remus read.

"And to think I never put him in a Little League because that sounded too much like something James would do," Lily said, shaking her head.

"Don't feel bad, Lily. Harry's found Quidditch now. Or it found him," Remus said. "While he was breaking a rule. To help another kid in his class. Really, the James in him just hits you sometimes, doesn't it?"

Lily laughed.

"I'll sign the permission form. I hope that's not what you're here to talk me into, of course I'll let Harry do what makes him happy."

"Not at all," Remus said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Because, really, the James in him just _hits_ you sometimes."

She nodded. "James would be popping a bottle of champagne, if he were here."

"Absolutely," Remus said. "He might be crying, too. If you're in a bubbly sort of mood, Sirius is still pretty ecstatic."

"I think I'm okay," Lily said. "Though you should by all means go entertain Sirius."

"A dangerous directive," Remus said, getting up. "Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams, love," Lily said. When Remus was back inside the house, Lily drew her wand. "Expecto patronus."

From the tip of her wand, burst the stag. She'd had a sneaking suspicion that he would come tonight, instead of the doe. They took turns based on Lily's mood it seemed.

"There's some news you've got to hear," she said. "Come here…"

* * *

Lily had pulled out all the stops at supper. Fresh tomato sauce made with fixings from the garden, homemade meatballs, a really, really good wine… All for the boys to be in a good mood when she made her (really altogether simple) request.

"I want you to teach me how to be an Animagus," Lily said.

Sirius choked on his spaghetti.

"Excuse me?"

"I want you to teach me how to be an Animagus," Lily said. "Look, now that Harry's out of house and doesn't need anyone staying in with him on full moons, I don't see why I couldn't help…"

"No," Remus said sharply. "No. Absolutely not, I refuse to allow it."

"Sirius is with you every full moon," Lily said.

"As the product of a bad decision I made when I was far younger and far stupider," Remus said. "I won't let yourself be put in any kind of risk, Lily."

"It's not a risk!" Lily said. "Isn't that what you and James told me when I found out about this Animagus business in the first place?"

"It's not a risk because the wolf is used to Sirius, and Sirius is in turn used to the wolf and how he behaves, what kinds of decisions he's likely to make, what he'll want to do, and where he'll want to go," Remus said. "I have no idea how he would react to a newcomer and I will not find out by using you as bait."

Lily leaned back in her seat and looked to Sirius. Sirius was looking deeply into his wine glass, swirling the remnants and deferring to Remus on this one. He'd be of no help.

"The Wolfsbane Potion is getting harder and harder to access," Lily said. "We might not even be able to get it on a bimonthly basis anymore. We have to start thinking of what's best for you."

"The shed in the yard is secure for a full transformation if it comes to that," Remus said.

"We are not chaining you up like an animal," Sirius intervened.

"I can help," Lily said. "James-"

"You are not James," Remus said.

Lily's blood boiled.

"I know I'm not, I love you on my own terms. But if it's going to be contentious, I'm willing to drop the subject. For now," Lily said.

Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Please."

* * *

Ten years. She'd been a widow for ten years.

The thought hit her as soon as she opened her eyes on Halloween. She hadn't been able to chase it away or move since. The sheets felt stifling around her, but she couldn't imagine pushing them off and facing the world today.

There was a knock on her door and before she could call anything out, Remus let himself in carrying a cup of coffee and a book. A happy black dog slipped in through the crack in the door.

"Don't mind me," Remus said, settling in on the bed and cracking open his book. "I just thought I'd do my reading here this morning."

Padfoot hopped on the bed and nestled against Lily too.

* * *

"Fighting _trolls_," Lily scoffed. "Fighting _trolls_ at eleven years old! He must've broken a thousand rules doing it—oh, just he waits until I send that Howler in…"

"He's James Potter's son," Remus counselled. "A Howler will have no deterring effect."

"We could keep an eye on him, if only we still had the map," Sirius said wistfully, equally grinning.

"You'd send him congratulations and sweets," Lily scoffed.

"To be fair, we'd warned you this would happen when you mixed your DNA with James in the first place," Remus said.

"I know," Lily said. Then, all of a sudden, she dropped the letter from McGonagall and laughed. "He fought a troll within the first two months of school… We're so, so fucked."

* * *

When they saw Harry again at Christmas, he had grown about three inches and seemed even happier than his letters had made it seem.

"My baby," Lily said squeezing him in his arms.

"Mum I can't breathe," Harry said.

"Go on Harry, just say I'm embarrassing you," Lily said kissing his hair. Keeping her arms on his shoulders, she held Harry back an arm's length and took him in. He was already looking lanky, so much like…

"You're embarrassing me," Harry said, deadpan. Lily laughed and Harry hugged her. In her ear he whispered, "I missed you Mum."

When she let go of him long enough to look up, Ron Weasley had swung by again. Molly and the other Weasley children were trailing her, and Lily couldn't help but think of a mother duck and a row of ducklings.

"Mum, this is Harry," Ron said.

"Pleased to meet you Harry," Molly said, wrapping Harry up into a hug.

"Hello, you must be Ron," Lily laughed, holding her hand out to the little boy.

"He's Ron," Ginny confirmed. One of the older boys, Percy judging by his Prefect's badge, was looking at Lily a bit awe-struck. She smiled and ignored it.

"Harry, Ron!" An authoritative little voice chimed behind Lily. A little girl with frizzy brown hair was coming towards them, dragging both of her parents by the hand. Lily could tell by how up-to-date her clothes were that she was a Muggleborn, Lily remembered that herself. This must be Hermione then.

"Hello Mrs. Potter, hello Mrs. Weasley, I'm Hermione Granger and these are my parents," Hermione said very grown-up like. She turned to the boys. "I've lost Neville."

"Neville Longbottom?" Lily asked quietly. She hadn't seen the boy in… well, ten years, really. Odd, given how she and Alice had used to joke that they could start a daycare at Order headquarters.

"He's our friend," Ron told her. "He's in Gryffindor with us."

"He's our fourth man," Harry said.

"Our fourth person because I'm not a man, I've_ told_ you," Hermione chimed in.

"Good," Lily said quietly. "Well, I'm sure his grandmother was just very excited to see him as well. If you all said you'd say goodbye before leaving, I'm sure he'll be around…"

* * *

Even if he'd chattered on about school during the car ride home with Lily, at supper Harry still had things to say about his friends, his Quidditch team, his favourite dishes from the Hogwarts kitchen, his classes…

"Slughorn loves me," he informed them. The Potions Master, as it seemed, hadn't decided to retire after all.

"That's because he loves your mother," Sirius said, dipping his noodles back into his bowl. Harry had gotten to pick what he wanted and he'd wanted Chinese food. "Honestly, he did. Still does, probably. With a burning passion…"

"That's enough out of you," Lily said. "What about Defense Against the Dark Arts? Who's teaching that, Harry?"

"It's Professor Quirrell," Harry said. "He's nice, but a little strange. McGonagall is my favourite, but she scares me."

Lily slept easier on the night Harry came home. She was so happy to see the light still on past bedtime, shining under his door, that she didn't even bother him about getting to bed. It was as if she and the house could breathe again.

* * *

On Christmas Day, the radio blared in the kitchen and Christmas movies ran on the television all day in the living room. The house smelled like turkey and potatoes and vegetables and cranberries and gingerbread, Lily's claim to fame in the baking arena. She'd traded some for a tin of Molly Weasley's fudge which had promptly _vanished_.

She, Remus, and Harry had each gotten rather thick stacks of books for Christmas, which they started working through in the afternoon, by the fire. Sirius was reading a new Muggle motorcycle magazine Lily had gotten him, to his amazement. She wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to keep the exact functioning of the Muggle postal system from Sirius, but the fact that he didn't know these were delivered to his door once a month was still rather hilarious to her.

"Remus?" Harry asked, looking up from his book.

"Yes?" Remus asked.

"Who's Nicholas Flamel?"

"He's an alchemist," Remus said. Harry tilted his head curiously, like a small dog hearing a new sound for the first time, which always made Lily laugh. "Think of them as very specific Potions Masters: their focus was a substance called the Philosopher's Stone, which would supposedly create gold as well as something called the elixir of life. Muggles and Wizards alike were drawn to Alchemy in the Middle Ages, but Flamel is the only one known to have succeeded."

"Nobody else?" Harry asked. "Huh."

"Why do you ask?" Remus asked.

"Nothing," Harry said. "Heard his name once in a class."

"There's a biography of wizarding names in the study, if you want to read more," Remus said.

"Yeah," Harry said. "Yeah, that would be good."

* * *

"It happened," Lily said, sliding a cup of tea and her copy of _Voices in Potions_ in front of Remus. She folded down the magazine. "Belby's grandson finally secured a patent on Wolfsbane. We won't be able to get it through the Ministry anymore."

Remus took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," she said, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "Sirius and I still think we can secure a copy of the recipe…"

"Not legally," Remus said. "Or not without spending an arm and a leg. It's not worth it, Lily."

"You're worth it. Your health is worth it," Lily said. She sat on his desk and ran her fingers over the article. "Look, if you won't let us do this for you, will you reconsider spending nights in the woods again?"

"It's not safe if I'm only with Sirius," Remus said. "And if you're trying to bring up the Animagus discussion again, it's still a no. Please don't fight me on this right now. On... on any of this."

Lily bit her lip.

"Okay," she said. "Okay, fine."

* * *

"We were too soft on him over Christmas," Lily ranted, pacing the kitchen and waving her cup of tea around as she gestured. "He's just so quiet when he's here! What happens at school? Is there something in the water? I should have instilled the fear of God in him when I had him under this roof. If I had there's no way that boy would have been out and about in the middle of the night, wandering the castle halls…"

"Well there is," Sirius said. "He just wouldn't have gotten caught."

"This isn't funny!" Lily said. "Wait a second. What do you mean by that?"

Sirius and Remus looked at each other, but it was enough to tip Lily off.

"What do you mean he wouldn't have gotten caught?" Lily said. She couldn't help but think of the first time James had convinced her that she really, really wanted to see how beautiful the greenhouses looked under the moonlight. _Don't worry Evans. There's no way we'll get caught, I promise…_

"He has the cloak," Lily concluded.

"Yeah," Sirius answered bluntly. "Oh, don't look at me that way, Remus. When have we ever been able to keep anything from her?"

"Where did he—Dumbledore gave him..?" Lily asked.

"He's the one who had it when James died, so I'd assume so," Remus said. "It was wrapped at the foot of his bed on the morning before he came home, he told us. With a note calling it 'an early Christmas present.'"

"He showed it to you? And it's really James' cloak?" Lily asked.

"It looked like it," Sirius said. "And God knows we've spent enough time under that thing…"

Lily twisted her hands together. "Why didn't he tell me about it?"

* * *

"I just got you peaceful sleep pastilles," Sirius said, frowning as she added a box to their basket of ingredients.

"You did, I just want to send Harry some," Lily said. "Hedwig came with a letter yesterday and it's the second one where he mentions nightmares."

"About what?"

"He's eleven years old and too cool to tell his mother that."

"Is that why you're not telling me about your nightmares either?" Sirius asked.

"While I am indeed too cool for you, you already know all about mine," Lily said. "Same old, same old."

"Voldemort?" Sirius asked. "Again? I thought we'd kicked those…"

Lily shrugged. She didn't want to talk about it. From her face to her chest, she felt tingly wherever the lightning scar reached when she did. Numb, actually. It was all in her head, but she still didn't like it.

"Well, we'll feed you chamomile tea and I'll relocate to your room like last time until we get rid of them again," Sirius said.

"Sleepovers," Lily smiled. "We can braid each other's hair and eat cookie dough too."

"Just don't tell Remus, he's afraid of salmonella."

* * *

"Madam Pomfrey has no idea when he'll wake up," Remus reminded her gently. "Why don't you go get some sleep, I'll sit with him..."

"No," Lily repeated, her fingers tightening around the arm of the chair. "I'm not moving."

She had previously threatened to tie herself down with a sticking charm when Sirius had tried.

"I'll get you a cup of tea, then," Remus said quietly, before leaving Lily and Harry alone. He was still fast asleep, or so Lily hoped. There was no way to tell…

"Lily, my dear…"

She turned around, ready to bat Sirius away this time, but it was Dumbledore.

"Minerva told me you'd come."

"Of course I came," Lily said, rising. "He's my son, and he's… I thought he'd be safe at Hogwarts."

"Harry found himself in trouble none of us imagined he would," Dumbledore said.

"That kind of trouble shouldn't have been here in the first place, not in a school," Lily said. She tightened her cardigan around her. Well, Remus' cardigan actually. Hers now. "Can you… what happened?"

"It seems that Professor Quirrell had made a rather strange acquaintance during his travels," Dumbledore said.

"Voldemort," Lily said quietly.

If Lily hadn't known Dumbledore at the peak of the Order of the Phoenix' activity, she wouldn't have noticed the twitch of his face.

"I've been having dreams," she said quietly. "I thought they were nothing."

"What kind of dreams?" Dumbledore said.

"I'm no diviner."

"I'm well-aware," Dumbledore said. "But there is more than one way to know the world. But let us lay out the facts of this particular encounter…"

He gave Lily a brief description of what Ron, Hermione, and Neville had relayed, and told Lily what he himself had seen when he'd made his way to the final room—Harry, unconscious, and Quirrell, dying.

"He came for my son again, then," Lily said quietly.

"He did," Dumbledore said.

"There's no shortage of Dark Magic in this world. He found a way to put his foot back in the door, and he'll find another way yet and do it again. You must have known that it wasn't over yet," Lily said.

"I have had my suspicions," Dumbledore admitted.

"But you were there on that night in Godric's Hollow when... You saw the body just like I did," Lily said. "You saw the Aurors carry it away. I thought he was dead."

Angry tears stung her eyes. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want it to be true. It wasn't fair, it couldn't be fair. James had died that night. He had given his life for them, for her and Harry. Voldemort had to be dead too. There wasn't… this couldn't be a halfway thing.

"There may be a spectrum between life and death that we are as of yet unaware of," Dumbledore said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"Nothing, yet," Dumbledore said. "These are just the musings of a very old man."

"I want to hear them. All of them. You need to tell me everything about this," Lily said, wiping her eyes. "He tried to kill me that night in Godric's Hollow and I will carry the scar and the pain of it for the rest of my life. I deserve to know. And even more importantly, I'm Harry's mother. That prophecy isn't going anywhere. If Voldemort is still… out there, somehow, then he won't stop looking for Harry now."

"No, he won't," Dumbledore agreed.

"He got too close," Lily said. "Much too close, and under your watch."

"I know."

"You need to do better," Lily said. "Especially now that we know just how real the threat is. This can never happen again."

"I will do everything in my power," Dumbledore said.

"No," Lily said. "You will do everything in your power and more, because that's what I have done for this child every day for the last eleven years. That's what James would be doing if he was still here. That's what James did, ten years ago. If Hogwarts isn't safe, no place will be, and I… I can't live with that. I tried for years, and I can't. I need to have faith in something."

"I will try to earn that, my dear," Dumbledore said. "But for now, Harry is safe. Madam Pomfrey expects that he will need quite a bit of rest but will make a full recovery. Did you hear that, Mr Weasley?"

Lily spun around. Ron, Hermione, and Neville were standing shyly near the infirmary's entrance. Behind them, even more shyly, was a boy with a round face that made her think of Alice Longbottom.

"We… we just wanted to see how he was, Professor," Hermione said shyly. Ron had quite the ugly gash on his cheek, and Neville's wrist was bandaged.

"Come in sweethearts," Lily said. "I think we're done for now, yes professor?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "For now."

But, and Lily was sure of it, not for good.

* * *

Harry was adamant that he didn't want to miss the feast; he wanted her to pick him up at King's Cross as if this were a regular school year. On her way out of Hogwarts, the castle hadn't changed at all since she'd been a student there, but Lily figured that she'd done enough of that for the both of them.

She wanted to see Flitwick, and on her way to his office was drawn to another room. It was the Room of Requirement, which the Marauders had showed her mostly because it pissed them off that they couldn't find a way to make it appear on that map. What was unusual, however, was that the door was waiting for her in the hallway when she walked in.

Curious, Lily opened the door. Inside was a mirror, a single mirror. The inscriptions around its side were easy to read and decipher from their original runes, even considering how old they were. The Mirror of Erised.

When Lily looked in the mirror, she had to smile. She knew it would be him. Of course it would be, who else- what else? James looked at her with that goofy grin on his face that showed up as a de facto expression, wearing the button-down speckled with tiny deers that he'd worn the first time he'd met his parents. _Puns give me courage_, he'd said. _That's not technically a pun, _she had nagged.

He looked a little older, however. Time had passed, but its changes were subtle. The frame of his glasses had changed. His face had slimmed down. That thick, crazy mane of his had calmed down a bit, the same as Remus' hair was doing. The smile lines around his eyes and at the corner of his lips seemed a little more fixed, like Sirius'.

"You're right," she mused to the mirror. "I do wish he was here. But I don't think he can be my deepest desire when I've already had him. Had him as much as I could have."

The James in the mirror's smile broadened, then the image flickered for a minute. The change was subtle, tiny even, but the dark-haired man in the mirror was wearing different clothes and different glasses and the eyes blinking back at Lily's were her own contribution to the genetic pool.

This. This was more like it. A safe, happy Harry outliving his father.

* * *

When Lily sat down, she curled up between Remus and Sirius, who made space for her.

"It's not over," Lily said.

"I'm sorry," Remus said quietly.

Sirius threw an arm over her shoulder and kissed her hair.

"I need… I need to do something," Lily said. "Last time, I joined the Order. I spent all those extra hours learning to duel. I… I don't want to wait for something bad to happen. Especially not with Harry on the line. But I don't know what to do"

"Would learning how to become an Animagus help?" Remus asked quietly.

* * *

It was Harry's first night home, so Lily wasn't entirely surprised that he'd gone to spend time at his favourite spot under the alder tree.

Lily went to join him, bringing hot chocolate with her. When she sat next to him, he let her put an arm around her and pull him closer and play with his hair. He was, after all and before anything else, a child. The baby she'd been the first person in the world to know about and love and feel. The baby she had held to her chest, whose head she had kissed before looking up to meet James' gaze over a decade ago, saying _nothing will touch him_. I don't care who wants to try. James had agreed.

"I have a story about your father to tell you," Lily said.

Harry looked up at her, surprised. For years, Lily had let Sirius and Remus give Harry his fix of James. But now…

She had to remember that even if he was still her baby, he'd grown now, and he was going to grow up faster than Lily would like whether she liked it or not.

"It's a good story," Lily promised.

"You don't talk about him a lot," Harry said.

"It hurts," Lily said frankly. "It really, really hurts and I thought… I thought I'd spare you that. To be perfectly honest, maybe I was sparring myself too. But he would be so, so proud of you."

"We didn't win the House Cup, though," Harry said.

"He'd be proud of the person you're becoming," Lily said. "Regardless of Quidditch. He'd be proud of your courage, your strength, the amount of love you have for your friends. Just like I am. He'd also tell you to be a bit less like him sometimes, and take care of yourself. To be careful, be patient, know the rules before you break them… He loved you, from the moment he met you, when you were born. He loved you before that, actually. But part of our story Harry, is that we'll never know for sure what your father would say because he never got a chance to be with us. Whatever the case, I think you need to start hearing more about him."

Harry took a sip of his hot chocolate and then settled down with his head on Lily's knee. She played with his hair and smiled at his default storytelling position, as if he was four years old and she was simply reading _T__he Tales of Beetle the Bard_. But this time, Lily had so many stories that they nearly stayed up until dawn.


	4. Chamber of Secrets Part 1 : Parseltongue

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the long wait, everyone! Life took over and I didn't have the time to focus on bigger projects like this one, but I buckled down on the plane last night and pushed through this. Chamber of Secrets Part II is already written, so I promise that the wait won't be this long again. Hope you enjoy!

ALSO: for argument's sake, we'll ignore the apocrypha and imagine a world where Gilderoy Lockhart was in the same year as the Marauders, because it amuses me.

**Disclaimer:** The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings:** NA

**Beta:** Aya

* * *

**Stacked with:** MC4A; By Any Other Name

**Individual Challenge(s):** Gryffindor MC (x4); Bow Before the Blacks; Brush; Ethnic and Present; Small Book

**Representation:** Celestial Petals AU; Romani Potter family

**Bonus challenge(s):** Found Family; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread; Teat Juice; Second Verse (Not a Lamp); Chorus (Pear-Shaped)

**Tertiary bonus challenge(s):** NA

* * *

4.

_The Chamber of Secrets Part I: Parseltongue_

Remus held the door open as she snuck out of the kitchen and onto the back porch, cake in hand. They sang along with Sirius, Hermione, Ron, and Neville. Harry was grinning, pleased at his first real birthday party with friends.

The kids had turned up that morning and they were set up to camp in the backyard that night. They'd been feeding them a steady diet of popcorn and whatever else they wanted to roast on a campfire, which had built up nicely to cake. Lily was quite proud of her masterpiece: she'd managed to make Quidditch hoops out of licorice and toothpicks and had recreated a pitch with icing.

Harry blew out all twelve of his candles and cut the cake into massive pieces.

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter," Neville said, accepting his slice of cake.

"That's Lily to you, love," she said. "Here, let's get you one of these Kit-Kat bleachers too…"

Neville smiled at her, and his shy and lopsided grin was like getting hit by the ghost of Frank Longbottom for a bit. Lily smiled back.

"Milk," Remus announced, coming out of the kitchen and putting a hand on Lily's back to avoid her backing up into him. "Why have cake without it?"

Their strategy thus far had been to swoop in, provide nutrition, and check for pulses before ducking out to let them have their fun. Remus and Lily had spent most of the day reading in the living room, listening to giggling and the outlines of heated arguments and discussions. That's where the three of them retreated, curling up on the couches with their cakes.

"They're good kids," Sirius said, gathering his hair up in a bun before digging in. "I'm glad Harry's found his people."

"I'm happy too," Lily said. "Also, I kept a slice of cake in the fridge, but that's for Mrs. Bagshot—don't either of you dare touch it."

"Or what, Evans?" Sirius scoffed. She dipped her fingers in the icing of his cake and smashed them on his nose. Remus burst out laughing so hard, milk came out of his nose, which made them laugh so hard that Lily's guard was down when Sirius retaliated.

There was icing everywhere when poor little Hermione wandered in, asking for a paper towel.

"Yes, paper towels! Good idea love," Lily said, dropping her paper plate on Sirius' lap and getting up.

"Bring some extra Evans, you missed a spot," Sirius called out.

* * *

Harry tiptoed into her room and knocked on the door.

"Hi love," Lily said with a smile. She wasn't in bed yet, just curled up in her reading chair. She made room for Harry to join her. "Did you have a good birthday?"

He smiled and his eyes lit up, which made Lily's heart squeeze.

"It was amazing Mum," he said. "Thanks. Can we do the same thing next year?"

"Of course, sweetheart," she laughed. She reached out and brushed his hair out of his face. "I'm glad I got to meet your friends. They're lovely."

"Yeha, they're cool," Harry said. "Next year we should invite Ginny though—you know, Ron's sister? She's coming to Hogwarts."

"Of course," Lily said. "Is something on your mind, love?"

"Yeah, I just had a question," he said. "Did the Potter family have house elves?"

"House elves?" Lily asked, chewing her lip. "Well, when your father first brought me home there were two—Ilia and Oddy. They were quite old though; they died not soon after your grandparents did, and in the middle of the war… Why do you ask?"

"Nothing," Harry asked. "Just curious."

"You know, when we go to Diagon Alley next, we can stop by Gringotts and see if there's anything you want to take out of the family vault," Lily said. "There's old family heirlooms, journals, photo albums—all kinds of things."

Harry grinned at that.

* * *

Remus came back from the full moon soaking wet and shivering. Lily was thankful that Harry had gone to the Burrow for a day of pick-up quidditch.

"Let's get you over here," Sirius said, guiding Remus to the living room.

"I'll get everything wet," he said weakly.

"That doesn't matter, love," Lily said. She cast a hot-air charm to dry him off, and Sirius threw a blanket over Remus' shoulders. With another flick of her wand she set the kettle to boil, and they sat on either side of Remus, rubbing warmth into his arms.

"What happened?" Lily finally asked.

"I—I think the wolf tried to swim," Remus said.

He was shivering, which had nothing to do with the cold.

Remus' current full moon strategy was to Apparate to this minuscule island off the coast of Northern Ireland so small that they'd only ever found it on one map; there it had been called Goat Hoof Island—an excellent name for a place so rocky, small, and abandoned. Padfoot wasn't strong enough on his own to restrain the wolf in case of an emergency, so using the sea as a natural barrier was their best option. Sirius would stand guard on the nearby cliffs, keeping an eye on their surroundings. While the island gave him plenty of room to roam, the wolf remained alone and turned on himself throughout the night. One of his eyes was black, and she'd noticed how gingerly he'd put weight on his left foot on his way in. His arms, of course, were full of scratches.

"There were two hikers," Sirius said at last. "Just these two tourists, American I think, camping on the cliff…"

"Oh, God," Remus said, burying his face in his hands. "He _smelled_ them…"

"We don't know that," Lily said.

"Except we do," Remus said, looking up. "Look, if this isn't safe anymore, we need to go back to Plan A…"

"Absolutely not," Sirus said.

"Never," Lily said. "That's not even a plan."

"Which it would have to be to receive full consideration," Sirius said.

"Stop," Remus said. "The priority is to keep the wolf under control."

"No, the priority is _you_," Sirius said. "Fuck the wolf."

"No," Remus said. "Not if he's… getting stronger."

Sirius opened his mouth, but Lily shot him a look.

"We don't have to discuss this right now; we have another 30 days before this comes up again," Lily said. "For now, we have to bring your fever down and we can also start brewing those painkilling potions for your joints."

* * *

They'd timed their visit to Diagon Alley so that it lined up with the Weasleys and Grangers. Sirius and Remus immediately splintered off to go to the Apothecary's—Lily didn't really want to know why it was that they desperately needed kelpknot—which left her and Harry to go to Flourish and Blotts.

The bookstore was a _nightmare_.

"Harry—Lily, dear," Molly said, catching Lily's arm and pulling her in line. The other witches in line jeered.

"What in the world are they so busy for?" Lily asked. If Harry hadn't immediately beelined to his friends for a reunion, they would have turned back and gone home right away. Crowds, especially crowds in which she could lose her son, were not her favourite.

"Calm down, calm down," an employee—his name was Samuel, he and Remus had tea frequently—said. "Watch the books!"

"Gilderoy Lockhart is here!" Molly said giddily. "I never thought I'd meet him… Oh look—there, he's coming out!"

The crowd went _wild_. Lily winced at the noise.

"Oh God," Lily breathed. Molly looked up at her, frowning. "I went to school with Gilderoy—Molly, I'm sorry, he's a bit of a…"

"My word! That cannot be… Harry Potter?"

Lily's stomach dropped out of her. The kids, small and scrappy as they were, had managed to get to the front of the crowd and Harry was spotted.

She heard a murmur through the crowd and her son turned cherry red as a perfectly coiffed and overly groomed Lockhart rushed towards him, grabbing his arm and pulling him forwards—hoping for a nice picture for _The Prophet_, no doubt.

Lily shoved her way to the front of the crowd.

"Gilderoy," she said, stepping forwards and gently pulling Harry away. She gave him her best get back in the crowd look, and he was all too happy to join Ron, Hermione, and Neville on the sidelines.

"Well, well... Lily Potter herself—beautiful as ever, Lily, despite it all."

"Despite the scar you mean," Lily said. Gilderoy's practiced press face didn't even flicker.

"A picture for _The Prophet!_" a small wizard with a camera said.

"Of course!" Lockhart beamed. "Three of the greatest names in Defense Against the Dark Arts of the twentieth century—"

"Leave Harry out of this," Lily hissed under her breath at Gilderoy. She gave Harry a look that said _stay put_, but he didn't look like he needed to be told. Her son did not like this amount of attention, unless there was a broom under him and a Snitch in his hand.

"Of course, you and me then," Gilderoy said. He lowered his voice, "Just like old times."

"I have no idea what you're referring to," Lily said, smiling to the cameraman.

She felt his hand gently flit against the small of her waist, and in a small feat of wandless magic, she called forth a spark to push him away.

"You should know that the last man who tried to lay a hand on me without my express permission was Voldemort, and look what happened to him," she whispered. Only a few in the crowd heard, and Lockhart winced at the name. But, ever the showman, he took over again without even skipping a beat.

"It is lovely to see such young visitors here today!" he beamed. "These next generations of witches and wizards represent a new hope—and a perfect opportunity for me to announce something I had been keeping a secret… When young Harry Potter and his lovely mother entered this bookshop today, they were expecting to purchase a collection of my books on the reading list at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and perhaps pick up a copy of _Me, the Magician_ while they were here! Little did Mr. Potter know that he would be walking away from the store with a complimentary selection of my work, signed, of course."

The crowd clapped. Lily just kept smiling. At least Lockhart wouldn't be getting a single galleon out of her.

"And, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that Mr. Potter and his friends will be benefiting from the presence of the real Magician every day this year! It is with great pleasure and honour that I hereby announce that I will be the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts for the upcoming year!"

Lily's smile nearly broke. Seriously? She didn't even remember Lockhart being in the NEWT classes with she and James… What was Dumbledore playing at?

The crowd, on the other hand, was quite pleased. A Flourish and Blotts employee motioned to bring Harry his books, but Lily intercepted him, took the books, and thanked him politely. She got cornered into a quick hug with Gilderoy, and he kissed her once on each cheek—avoiding the scar tissue, of course.

"It is quite a shame that Hogwarts doesn't have parent-teacher meetings, Lily," Gilderoy smiled. "It was a pleasure seeing you again."

Remus and Sirius laughed for twenty minutes straight when they found out.

* * *

"Lucius Malfoy, step away from my son," Lily said coldly.

Harry, Ron, and Neville had wanted to pop into the Quidditch store—well, Harry had, anyways. His friends followed except for Hermione, who had sat on the bench outside with Lily and was asking her questions about the charms theory that she had been writing on during Harry's birthday campout. There was no way a twelve-year-old could be expected to understand it, Lily legitimately felt as if Hermione was following along.

Anyways, the boys had been gone awhile, so Lily went to investigate—and lo and behold, there was Lucius Malfoy and a boy who could only be Draco. Lily had heard so much about him—nothing good, of course…

"Lily Potter," Malfoy said. "A charming surprise."

"Are you boys done?" Lily asked her brood. "Or were they bothering you?"

"Father was only explaining how he'd donated a fresh set of Nimbus 2001s to the Slytherin Quidditch team," Draco chimed in. In his voice, Lily heard a thousand other Pureblood boys she'd been to school with and she instantly understood why Harry despised him.

"That's the only way you'd get on the team," Harry shot back.

"Harry," Lily scolded.

"We'll see about that on the pitch, Potter."

"Harry," Lily repeated, more sternly this time. "That's beneath you. Lucius, I'd have thought that there would be something in the Pureblood Playbook for Perfect Conduct against taunting children. I'd throw bribery in there, but God knows that ship has sailed."

Lucius Malfoy gave her a look.

"You have a lot to say about pureblood life for a Muggle-born, Mrs. Potter."

"You can call me a Mudblood, if you like, Lucius," Lily said. "I know it's hanging off the tip of your tongue."

"There is no dishonor in being able to provide," Lucius said, changing the subject entirely. "I'm sure that that's one of the pleasures of old magic that your husband would have taught you."

"Had he not been murdered by a man who claimed old magic as his own, perhaps," Lily shot back, keeping her tone cordial. She held Malfoy's gaze, but he seemed to realise that any further conversation led to dangerous territory.

"Come along, Draco," Lucius said. "That's more than enough of our time wasted."

They left the store.

"Mrs. Potter, that was badass," Ron said.

"You best not use that language around your mother, but thank you," Lily said. She turned to Harry. "Love, I'm very serious. I don't care what he was saying; entertaining that is beneath you. All of you."

"Malfoy's dad is just as bad as he is," Neville muttered to his shoes.

"It's true Mrs. P," Ron said, particularly red. It was the curse of the gingers; Lily got so flushed when she was mad too. "Slytherin's going to slaughter the other teams this year, and not because they're good, but because they're rich!"

Lily pondered this. Her heart went out to Ron especially; her parents hadn't been wealthy in the Muggle world…

"You're right, that's quite unfair," Lily said, motioning for the boys to follow her to the cash register. "But one important thing to learn, especially when you're dealing with people like Malfoy, is that there's no purpose in getting angry when you could get even."

She smiled at the young witch at the cash register who had overseen the whole thing, and now looked a little afraid.

"Hello, how are you? I'd like to purchase twenty-one Nimbus 2001s, please," Lily said. "Would it be possible to donate them to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry anonymously, with a note asking Madam Hooch to ensure that they be made available to all players, regardless of their house, for games and practises."

The boys watched her complete the transaction, completely stunned.

"There's old Potter gold in Gringotts that isn't getting any shinier, and I do believe that your father would endorse all three causes at play here," Lily told Harry.

"Quidditch, equality, and getting back at Malfoy?" Harry asked. Lily smiled, and brushed his hair quickly.

"This is our little secret, do you understand?" Lily told the boys. "Now come along; the others will be waiting for us at Florian Fortescue's, yes? And don't worry Neville, we won't tell your grandmother we fed you ice cream for supper."

"Harry, your mum's the best," she overheard Ron whisper. She smiled.

* * *

One minute she was holding Harry's hand, the next minute she was standing on Platform 9 ¾ alone.

"Harry," Lily said. Her heart somehow stilled and started beating at a thousand miles an hour all at once. She looked back at the wall behind her. The brick looked unchanged, but when Lily touched it something felt… wrong. With the wards. She pushed against the wall but couldn't go back. The gate was closed, and Harry was on the other side, alone with Ron…

Oh God. She'd had nightmares less scary than this.

"Harry!" she called. "Harry!"

"Lily," Remus said putting an arm on her shoulder. She vaguely heard Molly asking about Ron backwards.

"Remus, something's wrong," she said, panic building up in her chest. "Remus, something's wrong!"

"Lily, breathe," Sirius said more strictly. "Step back from the wall…"

Remus and Molly held her hand as she watched one of Britain's top curse-breakers throw everything he had against the gate. It wouldn't budge. Now that the train had gone, a bigger crowd was trying to make its way back. Arthur and some other Ministry employees who were around held them back.

Sirius swore and backed away.

"I have no idea," he said, turning to them. "I can't even get a trace on this magic…"

And just like that, the wall shimmered. When Sirius tested the wall again, all of a sudden his foot could go through.

Lily was the first to cross the gate, the Weasleys and her boys hot on her heels. Aurors had gathered on the other side, probably called in to investigate, but Lily didn't care about them. She couldn't see Harry and Ron anywhere, and calling out their names did nothing.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Sirius swore.

"The crowd is huge," Lily said quickly. "The crowd is huge, Harry might've gotten claustrophobic. Maybe they went to wait in the car..."

And to the car they went; or at least they tried…

"They wouldn't have," Remus said, as they stood in the parking lot of King's Cross, looking around. Remus' certainty wavered. "Would they?"

Lily bit her lip and her memories sketched a quick portrait of the man she'd gotten the other half of Harry's DNA from.

"Yes," Lily said. "Yes, they would have."

"Oh, Merlin help us…" Molly gasped.

"Okay, nobody panic," Remus said, his eyes scanning the sky. "Sirius, you can get up there, can't you?"

"How on Earth would he do that?" Molly asked.

"Sirius has a flying motorcycle," Lily filled her in quietly.

"Really?" Arthur perked up. "That's brilliant!"

"Arthur Weasley now is not the time!" Molly roared. "If you weren't so blastedly obsessed with flying Muggle contraptions in the first place we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Regardless, I have the motorcycle here. I'd been hoping to take it to work later," Sirius said. "Duty calls."

"Please tell me you have a helmet if you're going to be up in the air so long…" Lily said.

"Worried, Evans?" Sirius grinned. And then he turned to Remus. "Coming, Moony?"

"Absolutely not, the—" she caught herself before she could complain that the full moon had been just two days ago. They hadn't told Arthur and Molly.

"I am perfectly alright," Remus said, giving Lily a look.

"On the ground, yes," Sirius said. "I just remembered I've only got one helmet Remus, and you heard Evans."

"Send me word when you've found them," Lily said. "Get them to land right away, do you hear me, Sirius?"

He kissed her cheek and darted off without a clear answer.

The next they heard was from Sirius' shaggy patronus, which came to find them at The Woodland where Arthur and Molly had come for a cup of tea while they waited.

"Escorted the kids to Hogwarts—they said they'd wanted to wait for us in the car, but that it took off on its own accord. They didn't know where it was going, so they just took control of it and followed the train. Landing was rough, but kids are okay. McGonagall might kill them, though. On my way home."

"If she doesn't, I will," Molly said. "Well, mine anyways. I'll leave you yours."

Lily laughed.

"Outright murder aside, I would like someone to teach me how to send a Howler," Lily said.

* * *

"Rita Skeeter's having the time of her life," Sirius said, spreading _The Prophet_ on the table.

Yesterday, they'd finished all the yardwork they needed to prepare The Woodland for Winter, and nobody had any reason to leave the house today. This translated to a lovely, lazy Sunday morning; Remus was making some elaborate breakfast he wouldn't accept any help with, and so Lily and Sirius were sitting at the table, brewing cups upon cups of coffee using the good beans.

Sirius showed her the article in question: "HOGWARTS PLUNGED INTO CHAOS AS CHAMBER OF SECRETS OPENS AGAIN."

"Give me a break," Lily said. "Chaos?"

"It sounds ridiculous, but it does seem as if something happened…" Sirius said. He read the piece out loud for them.

"Ridiculous," Lily said once Sirius was finished.

"Lily, you do know what the Chamber of Secrets is, don't you?" Remus said.

"Of course, I do," Lily said. "Muggle-borns talk, you know. Even legends circulated. Unless you two know something I don't..?"

"No," Sirius shook his head. "I mean, _obviously_ we looked for it."

"It was our duty to be thorough—for the map, you see," Remus said.

"I'm sure," Lily smiled.

"Yes, and James became particularly obsessed with making sure it wasn't real when he started dating this redhead in sixth year," Sirius said. "We redoubled search efforts then, but never found anything."

"Then I'm not worried," Lily said.

"Yeah, and Mrs. Norris probably had it coming, wicked little thing," Sirius said.

* * *

"Lily, what a surprise," Lockhart said.

Lily looked away from Remus and took a deep breath.

"Hello, Gilderoy," she said, forcing a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Simply out for a stroll in Hogsmeade," he said. He was wearing a lavender purple outfit that made him look like an exotic bird—of the ridiculous type with an overly idiotic mating dance. "Keeping an eye on the children and so on."

"There seem to be no children this far from the village center," Remus said quietly. "Unless they have started teaching invisibility spells at a very young age."

"What brings you to _The Hog's Head?_" Gilderoy asked, not paying Remus any attention.

Remus and Lily were waiting to meet with Otticus Belby—the man who had placed a patent on the Wolfsbane Potion and had made Remus' life infinitely more complicated. They were hoping to convince him to lease them a license to brew the potion, but Remus hadn't been overly hopeful. After all, Belby making the Wolfsbane Potion harder to secure and had to be purely driven by a hatred of werewolves. There was no negotiating with that.

"Catching up with a friend," Lily said, nudging her head towards Remus. There was no way Lockhart knew they lived together, right? Right. She hoped that her tone was pointed enough to give Lockhart a hint that he was interrupting, but Lockhart was the kind of man who would not see what he didn't want to.

"Hello, Gilderoy," Remus said diplomatically. Lily knew it must hurt—Remus had had no patience for Lockhart when they'd been in school. Where Remus worked hard and in the shadows, Lockhart composed epics about every bead of sweat that formed on his forehead—the kind of bad epic with too many adjectives that Sirius was prone to singing when drunk.

"Remus," Lockhart smiled. "You look well."

The full moon was tomorrow and so Remus, in fact, looked like he'd been hit by a car (perhaps of the flying sort) which had then reversed to attempt a mercy killing but hadn't quite done the job.

Lockhart turned back to Lily again.

"You know Lily, I can think of much nicer places around Hogsmeade where two old friends may catch up, have a drink, spend a few leisurely hours enjoying each others' companies…" Lockhart said.

"Hogsmeade _is_ lovely," Lily nodded.

Mercifully, a Hogwarts student burst into the pub.

"Professor Lockhart, Professor Lockhart!" he said. "Samir got his head stuck in the patio railing at that fortune-teller's house and she says she's going to curse his family for nine generations to come if he doesn't get unstuck!"

"There are those children you were meant to be keeping an eye on," Remus said jovially. Lily bit her lip to avoid smiling.

"It was nice seeing you again," she offered politely.

"It was," Lockhart agreed. "We'll have to stop running into each other purely by accident, you know…."

And with that, he left. Lily turned to Remus, one finger raised.

"Not a word."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Remus said. Then he grinned mischievously. "Sirius will say it all when we get home."

"Don't you dare," Lily said. "Remus John Lupin, I will hex you into next week if you tell him a word…"

* * *

_Dear Mum,_

_I promise I didn't do it on purpose, but there was a duel and Malfoy summoned this snake and I thought it was going to bite Justin, so I told it to move but then I spoke Parseltongue and I don't know why or how I did it. I didn't even know it was a thing, Neville had to explain. Did Dad speak Parseltongue? Did anybody in the family do it? Hermione says Salazar Slytherin did, but I'm not a Slytherin so I don't know. I'm sorry that I snuck out after hours to go to the owlery and send this letter, but I'm confused and I want to know in case Dumbledore makes me come to his office._

_Please don't tell Sirius. I know he doesn't like Slytherins because of his family. Also don't tell Remus. I know he tells Sirius everything._

_I love you,_

_Harry_

_PS- I had detention with Professor Lockhart because of the car thing and he asked me about you. Did you go to school together?_

* * *

_Dear Lily,_

_I hope that this letter finds you well. I had the pleasure of reading your latest article in Charms Quarterly and was quite intrigued by your proposed theoretical framework. I do hope we can discuss the subject further over a cup of tea, as that is not my main purpose in writing to you today._

_I know that you are Muggle-born, and that you carried out excessive genealogical searches during the last war to trace a wizarding ancestor with little to no luck. However, I was hoping you may know if speaking Parseltongue ran in James' family. There was an incident at the castle where Harry revealed himself to be able to speak Parseltongue, and he seemed as surprised by it as the rest of us. I thought you ought to know and was quite curious myself, as old men tend to be._

_Best wishes (which of course extend themselves to Sirius and Remus),_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

* * *

She and Slughorn were having breakfast at _The Three Broomsticks_, and he was his usual happy, jovial self.

"I believe it's officially been ten years now since you told me you were going to retire, sir," Lily said.

"Well!" Slughorn said, buttering his toast. "I see you'll do an old man no favours in feeling young, Lily."

She laughed. "I hope Potions are treating you well."

"They are, though we are facing a bit of a strange situation," he said. "Somebody seems to be stealing from the Potion Master's store."

"Stealing potions ingredients?" Lily asked. She took a sip of coffee, frowning. "Does that happen often?"

"Well occasionally, a student will unfortunately try to brew a love potion or memory potion on their own—for academic and personal purposes, you see," Slughorn said. "But never have I seen such a wide range of ingredients go missing… I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is this thief is brewing. It must be something quite rare."

* * *

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_This letter will be quite short, as I know you are a busy man. Furthermore, I am sure you are facing questions on this matter from all sides, but I must ask because of who my son is. Is Hogwarts safe given these petrifications?_

_Best,_

_Lily (and Sirius and Remus, probably)_

* * *

Lily loved, loved, loved Christmas markets. She loved the lights, the crafts, the warm apple cider, the baking, the music. She'd been proposed to at a Christmas market. She'd found Harry's first toy at a Christmas market. Once December hit, she Apparated to Christmas markets across the country—and the one at Ottery St. Catchpole was lovely.

Molly was going to be joining her soon, but Lily had arrived early, which somehow gave Gilderoy Lockhart the impression that she would like to talk.

"Lily," he said, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips.

"Gilderoy," she said, pulling her hand back. "Yes, wow... what a coincidence."

"There's no such thing as a coincidence Lily, though it is always such luck to run into you," he said. He flashed her one of his famous smiles, which looked so plastic. "Are you from around here?"

"No," Lily said, making sure not to give him any kind of information about The Woodland lest he start appearing directly at her home next.

"Then you are exploring," Lockhart said. "I do love exploring, though fame has made it quite difficult to spend a leisurely afternoon alone, discovering a new place, undisturbed…"

"I know," Lily said plainly.

"Oh, but there's nothing I wouldn't do for my fans," he said, flashing her another smile. She didn't react. "Are you cold, Lily?"

"I bundled up."

He ignored her. "May I suggest a cup of apple cider to warm up?"

Apple cider was ruined now.

"Actually I'm meeting someone, and he's just over there…" Lily said, pointing in the crowd to someone she happened to recognize.

"One day I will get that drink out of you, Lily!" Gilderoy called as she walked away and towards Amos Diggory. When she called his name, he recognized her and smiled. He'd commissioned her to do some charms work on a present for his wife years ago, and she quite liked him.

"Lily," the big, bearded man grinned. "Why, I haven't seen you in ages, how have you been?"

"Well, thank you," she said. "I heard from your boy Cedric recently."

"Yes, the thank you card from Hufflepuff House! He told me he was planning on sending something on behalf of the team." He lowered his voice. "Frankly, Lily, between you and me, I know that you donated those brooms anonymously for a reason, but everyone knows it's you, and you should take credit for it. It was a wonderful gesture. Cedric was telling me that his team has four Muggle-born players on it, two from families that could never afford Quidditch equipment, and then his old man would never do something so biased… Leveling out the playing field was marvelous, just marvelous. And I want you to know that I did raise as much of a storm about it at the school board as I could, but it was difficult given our current president…"

"Who's the president of the school board?" Lily asked.

"Lucius Malfoy," Amos told her.

* * *

"Is this guy bothering you?" Sirius asked. "Be honest."

"He's not bothering me so much as wasting my time," Lily said, her hands curled around a cup of tea. They'd just finished another Animagus lesson, and Lily was freshly showered and had changed into her chunkiest sweater. Lily still hadn't managed to budge an inch away from her human shape, but she wasn't fussed about it. Patience was a virtue, after all.

"Stop being nice to him, Evans," Sirius said. "Unless you're planning on getting _nicer_."

"I reject the implications that I would _ever!_" Lily said, smacking his arm.

"Well then you don't need to spend any energy on this tool. Tell him to fuck off, or I will," Sirius said. "Seriously Evans, you're too nice to people. It's fucking Snape all over again."

"That was different."

"At least Lockhart's hair is nice to look at, yeah," Sirius said.

She rolled her eyes, unwilling to open _that_ can of worms, and leaned back against the couch, her head on Remus' shoulder.

"Lily?" Remus asked cautiously. "Perhaps… perhaps this story with Gilderoy brings up an interesting point regarding… well, your love life. Which should not include Lockhart by any stretch of the imagination, but…"

"Oh no," she said. "We're using the nice teacups; I should have known this was an intervention."

"It's not an intervention, we'd just thought we'd find a time to ask and apparently that time is now," Sirius said, shooting Remus a look. "Look, James has been gone for eleven years. Are you… okay?"

She arched an eyebrow.

"Well I've got these recurring nightmares about stepping over my dead husband's body and the corpse of the man who killed him to bring my child to safety, and I have the periodic existential crisis about why it is that I'm still alive, but don't we all? Other than that and this slight scar I've got, I think I'm doing well," Lily said.

"Okay, we asked for the news, not the sass," Sirius asked.

"Let me try," Remus said. "Are you okay being on your own? Because if you wanted to try and date…"

"I'm not alone. I have you two," Lily said. Her heart stopped. "Oh my gosh, are either of you going anywhere..?"

"No, no," Remus said. "No, it's not like that at all. We just… we want to look out for you."

"That's saying something from Mr. Parade-of-One-Night-Stands and his friend, Mr. Forever-Alone-Because-of-Lycanthropy," Lily said.

"Yes, well, you're neither of those people," Sirius said. He kissed the top of her head. "We're not going anywhere; we just want to make sure that you have what you need to be happy and safe."

"I do," she promised. "Or I will when Harry comes home from Christmas, I suppose."


	5. Part II: The Basilisk and the Phoenix

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the love y'all! I am _super _excited for the Prisoner of Azkaban chapter coming up, and it's about half written. So please be patient with my as I put it together! And since it's going to be pretty significant in setting up this AU... well, I've got to get it right you see. Thank you to Aya for being a wonderful beta!

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings: **NA

* * *

**Stacked with:** MC4A; By Any Other Name; Specious Narrative; Snicket Fence

**Individual Challenge(s):** Gryffindor MC (x4); Ethnic and Present (Y); Seeds; Bow Before the Blacks (Y); Long Haul

**Representation(s): **Romani Potter family; Harry getting bullied in CoS; Muggle-born attacks and bullying; Celestial Petals AU; Harry's house-related identity crisis; Muggle-born support networks; Saving Dobby

**Bonus Challenge(s): **Found Family; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress); Rediscovery

**Tertiary Bonus Challenge(s): **Ameliorate; Intercept

**Word Count: **4402

* * *

_5._

_The Chamber of Secrets Part II: The Basilisk and the Phoenix _

"You look happy to be home, love," Lily said, sitting on the end of his bed.

He closed the book he was reading—_Hogwarts, a History; _an unusual choice for him…

"I missed you," he said earnestly. "And it's Christmas."

"I missed you, too," she said. "But usually you're excited, not… relieved."

Harry chewed his lip.

"It was hard this semester," he said. "Because of the… the Parseltongue."

"I see," Lily said. "That must pair rather oddly with the rumours about the Chamber of Secrets."

"You know about those?" Harry asked.

She nodded and drew her legs up on the bed.

"People say things, but you're my mum and you're Muggle-born," Harry said. "And Hermione's one of my best friends. And Dean is my roommate. I don't understand why people…"

"People don't think, Harry, people talk," Remus said from the doorframe. He let himself in and eased himself down on the reading chair in the corner, joints stiff during this phase of the lunar cycle. "It hasn't gotten better, then?"

Harry shook his head.

"I'm not Slytherin's Heir, am I?" he asked anxiously.

"We looked through everything we have on the Potter family. They were Romani. They suffered a lot of violence and had to move around a lot, and there are things that got lost over time," Remus said. "But we honestly don't think so."

"Then why can I speak Parseltongue?" Harry asked.

"It's a gift some people have," Lily said.

"It doesn't feel like a gift," Harry muttered.

"Magic didn't feel like a gift when I first got to Hogwarts," Lily said, taking Harry's hand. "Give the world time to catch up to you, love."

"I'm not even a Slytherin," Harry said, shaking his head. "I don't _want _to be one. That's Voldemort's house."

"It was," Lily said. "But we know terrible, _terrible _Gryffindors as well, don't we? And Slytherin was Merlin's house. It was Professor Slughorn's house, and you know how much he helped me get settled when I was younger. It's not about the house Harry, it's what you do when you're inside."

"I want to be a Gryffindor," Harry said meekly.

"Then be a Gryffindor," Lily said, squeezing his hand. "You've got two in the room with you now…"

"Three," Sirius said. He'd been leaning in the doorway.

"Three," Lily said. "We won't complain. But you don't have to be afraid."

* * *

"Remus?" Harry asked over dessert. "How do house elves… I mean, is there any way to free them?"

"Their masters can, yes," Remus said. "They have to be given an item of clothing to be free."

"Any clothing?" Harry asked.

"As far as I know, yes," Remus nodded.

"The Blacks liked to free their house elves by bludgeoning," Sirius reminisced.

"God, we're lucky you ended up this way," Lily said, shaking her head.

"Why do you ask, Harry?" Remus said, bringing his fork to his mouth.

"Just curious," he said.

Lily frowned suspiciously. Her son absolutely was curious, but _just _curious? No. There was no such thing as a hypothetical question.

* * *

"Mum, Professor Lockhart keeps asking about you," Harry said.

"Don't call him 'professor' in this house," Remus warned. Lily grinned.

"What does he ask?" Lily said.

"Just… stuff. Is it true that you two went out while you were at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

Sirius burst out laughing. Lily cast a silencing jinx from across the room, but that didn't stop him.

"No," Lily said. "Absolutely not."

"He said you two made excuses to see each other," Harry frowned. She saw Sirius laugh louder in the background.

"I tutored him," Lily said. "But I tutored everybody, really."

"In what?" Harry asks.

Lily cracked a grin. "Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"That makes sense," Harry nodded.

* * *

"Somebody's up early for their day off," Lily noted. Sirius turned to her.

"I had a letter to send," he said, clearing his throat. "I… that talk with Harry about Slytherin house made me think of my brother."

"Oh," she said. She had never met Regulus, though she'd seen him around at Hogwarts—had probably taken points from him once or twice, given the crowd he'd hung around... Most of what she knew about Regulus she'd learned from James. Very little of it was good, a lot of it was complicated.

She waited this one out until Sirius spoke again.

"I never made much of a fuss when he went missing—my delightful mother was still alive to handle that and I… I honestly didn't care much. But he was so young when he disappeared. God, I feel old saying that, but I am. He was a kid, and he got wrapped up in the things I'd have fallen into had James not adopted me in first year. I just sent Mad-Eye Moody an owl to see if he would be willing to try and track down Regulus."

Lily opened her arms and Sirius walked over for a hug. She kissed his hair.

"I'm proud of you."

* * *

"I'm worried about Ginny," Molly said, stirring sugar into her tea. "Of course, I know that it's not unusual for the flow of letters to lighten once children are more habituated to Hogwarts—she is my seventh, after all, but I… oh, it must be silly."

She waved her hand dismissively and took a sip.

"And what about your news?" Molly asked. "How did it go with that Muggle man who took you out?"

"David," Lily said. She chewed her lip. "It was… it was nice, I suppose. I got to dress up, wear my heels. He was a gentleman, very sweet, very kind, very interesting."

"It doesn't sound like it went well by the way you're saying all those nice things," Molly said.

"It's not his fault, I just… my heart wasn't in it," Lily said. She took another sip of her tea. She knew that James would have given her his blessing—goodness, if the positions had been reversed she'd want him to be looking… But it was hard to feel hopeful. Truth be told, Lily had felt bored and understimulated during that entire date. She'd been excited to go home where she knew Remus and Sirius were watching nature documentaries, of all things.

"Well, maybe it's because he's a Muggle. You couldn't quite be yourself around him, could you?" Molly reasoned.

"I suppose it might be," Lily said.

"I'll ask Arthur to have a look at who's available. He only works with Perkins, who I would not send your way for a million galleons, but I'm sure there's at least one decent man in the Ministry," Molly said. "Cheer up, sweetheart!"

* * *

It was Valentine's Day. Sirius was out breaking a curse protecting a bog that some druids must have really, _really _liked—and so Lily and Remus were free to watch documentaries all night and eat Chinese food.

When the flowers came, Lily was confused.

"Did you do this?" Lily asked.

"We've been housemates for eleven years," Remus said. "I thought the spark was gone."

Lily grinned and turned back to the bouquet of… lilies.

_I realized that the one thing I don't know about you is what your flower is—since you're always so delighted no matter what I get you—but I know what I like, _James had once told her with that cheeky grin of his on their first Valentine's Day. She'd called him a tool, which he'd amended to "a romantic tool," which she had conceded.

These were from Lockhart though, which was way grosser than Lily had anticipated.

"Merlin," Remus said. "Does this mean he knows where we live now?"

"I hope not," Lily said. She vanished the note and picked up the bouquet. Remus gave her a look.

"What?" Lily asked. "It's not their fault they were sent by Lockhart. I won't leave them on the porch to die."

* * *

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_Harry has written to tell me that Hagrid was recently fired from his position and thrown into Azkaban. This is ridiculous—absolutely ridiculous. What happened to a man's right to a fair trial? What evidence is there that Hagrid had anything to do with the petrifications when he spends most of his time outside the school anyways? Why is our legal system now running to rumours and catering to the agendas of Purebloods who feel entitled to make judgement calls on half-bloods?_

_I'm sure I don't have to tell you any of this. I am simply expressing my concern to you so that you can relay one parent's dissatisfaction to the board and can direct me towards who I should send my complaint to the school board to._

_Best,_

_Lily_

* * *

"And?" Remus asked, watching Lily fold the letter and slip it back into its envelope.

"He won't come home," Lily said. "He says he won't leave Hermione alone in the infirmary. He, Neville, and Ron visit her twice a day and he doesn't intend to stop."

She chewed her lip and felt tears prickling her eyes. She wiped them away and distracted herself by giving Hedwig an owl treat—she kept a jar in she and Remus' office on the ground floor, and Hedwig had started only coming in through their window now. Clever girl.

Lily ran her hand down the owl's feathers. Remus gave her some time before interjecting.

"Lily?" he said.

"Yes?"

"Are you really surprised?" Remus said gently. "I know he crashed a flying car into the Whomping Willow, but this is the most James-like thing he's ever done and ever could do."

Lily squeezed her eyes shut and nodded.

"The thing with James—with all of us, really—is that we only started seeing danger when it was too late," Lily said. "And I don't want that for Harry. People recognize him in the streets, Remus. He's so, so vulnerable and I don't want to tell him because he's just a child and I don't want to be paranoid because that's not fair to him, but… but something's not right. I can… I can _feel _it."

* * *

Lily kept her arms wrapped around her son for so long, he eventually got twitchy in her arms and she had to let go.

"I know you'd yell at me if you weren't so happy and I'm sorry," Harry said quietly. "I… I didn't mean to put myself in danger, it just…"

"Happened?" Lily suggested. Harry nodded and she buried her nose in his hair again. That's what she had been the most afraid of: that these things just _happened. _And that they would keep happening…

"Molly and Arthur, you should bring Ginny and Ron to Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore said. "Ron I do believe you could show your parents the way, in case they forgot? Neville, I would appreciate if you could go with them—your grandmother should be here soon."

There was some nodding and some shuffling. Ron held his sister's hand protectively as they turned to the door. Moments later, Lucius Malfoy burst in, a skeletal house elf at his heels.

"You," he said, looking at Dumbledore.

"Indeed, Lucius," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Thankfully, nobody finished the candy in my jar while I was away."

"Dobby!" Harry said.

"Who?" Lily asked for a second before she saw him looking towards the little elf. Suddenly, all those questions about house elves made sense… How Harry knew this one, out of all elves, Lily didn't know. She'd find out by plying her son with cake, she supposed.

Malfoy was ignoring the little elf, which was apologetically scurrying around his ankles, trying to polish his shoes.

"So!" he said. "You've returned. The school board suspended you, yet you still saw it fit to return to Hogwarts."

"Well, you see, Lucius," said Dumbledore, "the other board members contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job, after all. Very strange tales they told me, too. . . . Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."

Mr. Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes were blazing.

"Curious and curiouser," Lily said, buying into Dumbledore's game. "Although I'm sure that Mr. Malfoy will acknowledge that it was quite a lucky thing that you'd returned after all, given that these attacks have stopped and our children are now safe—all of them. Even the Muggle-borns."

Malfoy turned to her and he looked even angrier.

"Well?" Malfoy snapped. "Who was responsible?"

He struck out his cane, throwing Dobby the house elf away from him. Lily was going to interject, but Harry cut in.

"Voldemort," he said. "But he's a right coward, so he was using that diary over there to manipulate Ginny."

Lily noticed Dobby making curious gestures; he pointed at the diary, then at Malfoy, and smacked himself on the forehead… Lily wasn't sure she understood the _how, _but the elf was making his meaning clearly enough.

"It was a clever plan, for if Harry and his friends hadn't discovered the diary's properties, why—Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame without anybody knowing she was being possessed."

Malfoy's face was a mask.

"And to think that the Weasleys are one of Britain's most prominent pure-blood families… To think of the effects it would have had on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act if his own daughter had been discovered attacking Muggle-borns," Lily chimed in. "What a tragedy it would have been to lose such potential talent."

The words seemed to pain Malfoy.

"Very fortunate," he said.

"Of course, more can be done to integrate and protect our Muggle-born students," Lily said. "That will be a prominent part of my campaign when I run for President of the School Board."

Malfoy looked at her with wide eyes.

"Why…" he said.

"Your term ends in a month," Lily interrupted. "It is perfectly acceptable for another candidate to run should they feel that they are better suited for the position."

"As you do, presumably?"

"As I know I am," Lily corrected him.

"Yeah, Mum wouldn't go around giving haunted diaries and dark objects to students," Harry chimed in, looking from Dobby to Malfoy. "You know, don't you? You know how Ginny got hold of the diary."

Lucius Malfoy rounded on him.

"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he said.

"Because you gave it to her," said Harry. He looked at Dobby, who was nodding frantically and repetitively slapping his cheek.

Malfoy didn't notice; he just hissed "Prove it."

"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you. . . ."

Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment. His hand reached for his wand, but Lily drew hers.

"I'm still faster," she said quietly. "Just like the old days, isn't it, Malfoy?"

"I don't know what you mean," Lucius Malfoy said stiffly.

"Of course not, a side-effect of those Imperius curses that Dark Lord was so skilled at casting, I am sure. Now unless you want word of this diary spreading, I recommend you leave. Until next time, Lucius. At the school board election."

"Dobby!" Lucius said, opening the door with a wave of his wand. The elf hurried upwards, and Malfoy kicked him across the doorframe—Lily heard a squeal of pain. Harry winced, and then rushed to take his tie off.

"Professor Dumbledore," he said hurriedly. "Can I give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"

"Certainly, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Why don't you circle down to the infirmary and join your friends afterwards?"

Harry nodded and kissed Lily's cheek before darting out the door.

Lily turned to Dumbledore.

"What long-term damage can we expect from this?" Lily asked.

"Pardon?" Dumbledore asked.

"My scar tingles when I am near Dark Wizards or former allies of Voldemort," Lily said, touching her cheek. "Magic leaves marks. What magical implications can we expect from Harry's exposure to the Basilisk venom, and the phoenix' tears?"

"I do not know," Dumbledore said. "But I will look into it. In the meantime, keep a close eye on Harry and let me know if anything… develops."

There was a pause.

"He met Riddle, then," Lily said.

Dumbledore nodded. "A projection of Riddle, that is."

"What's the difference?" Lily asked. "I'm sure you're familiar with Reynold's Theorem in Charms. If a conjured bird sings like a bird, flies like a bird, looks like a bird, and perches like a bird—then for all intents and purposes, it is a bird."

"An interesting question…" Dumbledore said, sitting down at his desk and stroking Fawkes' feathers.

"Why is he back?" Lily asked. "How is he back?"

"If I knew, I would tell you," Dumbledore promised. "I'm afraid this is magic I have never encountered before. But whatever it was that Harry met, it was every bit as manipulative as the real Tom Riddle once was. Harry was quite worried when I spoke to him alone earlier. Riddle told him… many things."

"I'm sure he did," Lily said. "I'm sure he would have a lot to say."

"Harry worried about the similarities between them."

"Harry is nothing like him," she hissed.

"Perhaps he'll tell you more about his fears later," Dumbledore mused. "Perhaps he won't. Keep an eye on him."

"Don't I always?" Lily asked. "It's at Hogwarts that things hit the fan."

"Yes, he's quite like his parents that way."

Dumbledore smiled. Lily couldn't help but smile back—she'd always known that the old man had turned a blind eye to most of she and James' antics.

"Are you really going to run to be the school board's president?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Lily asked. "Lucius Malfoy has been the second biggest pain in my ass this last year. I don't get mad, Headmaster. I get even."

"Who was the biggest, then?" Dumbledore asked.

"Your DADA professor, sir."

"Oh, about that…"

* * *

Remus filled her in on the little news he knew, and Lily went to join Sirius on the porch.

"I'm sorry," Lily said.

"It's fine," Sirius said.

"No it's not, and that's okay." She leaned her head against his shoulder. The porch swing they sat on swung gently.

"It's not like I'm surprised that he's dead," Sirius said. "I just wish I knew what had happened. Why, where, how, when… anything, really. He's not my favourite person, but he is my brother."

"I know what you mean," Lily said quietly. "It's a bond, even if you don't want it."

"Exactly," Sirius said. "I don't want it. But he did once take the blame for a vase I broke while I was five."

"A priceless artifact of the most Noble House of Black!" Lily exclaimed. Sirius made a face and swatted at her arm. Lily smiled; her work accomplished.

"You know, I think Harry wishes he'd had siblings," Lily said quietly. "When I see him with the Weasleys, or with Neville."

"Tell him he's wrong. Remus is an only child and he's by far the most well-adjusted here," Sirius said. Lily scoffed.

"But like you said, it's… it's a bond. It's something," Lily said. Sirius kissed the top of her head.

"I wish he'd gotten that, too. But for the record, I think he's a pretty lucky kid," Sirius said.

* * *

At the train station, Lily pulled Hermione aside.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Hermione chewed her lip and nodded.

"Getting petrified didn't hurt."

"It's still scary," Lily said. "I was scared for you."

Hermione nodded. "It… it was. But I knew it was a Basilisk. I was carrying around a mirror."

"You're so bright," Lily smiled, pushing a piece of her hair back. "And I'm happy you figured it out, but you shouldn't have had to. You know, I was a Muggle-born student while Voldemort was first in power. It was scary, Hermione. When I married a pure-blood it was nearly worse, people said I was going to tarnish an old bloodline... Some of that hatred is still lingering."

Hermione nodded. "It's just… I don't think any of us knew we were in danger until this year, and then we could have died."

"You could have," Lily said. "And that's terrifying. Towards the end of seventh year, James—Harry's father—didn't even want us going to Hogsmeade because of… of things that had happened to other Muggle-borns there. There were students we had to avoid in Hogwarts' hallways to stay safe. Friends you had to let go of before they turned on you. In those days we found that our best tool was to rely on friends. And even then, even the kindest and most invested pure-bloods and half-bloods couldn't understand what it was like to be Muggle-born. It was important to have each other."

She gave Hermione the folder—it was a Muggle binder from a Muggle office supply store. The notes inside were written on Muggle paper with Muggle gel pens. A piece of Muggle masking tape on the cover labeled it: _MUGGLE-BORN STUDENT UNION._

"I didn't know that was a club," Hermione frowned.

"It disbanded when Voldemort fell, as I understand it," Lily said. "I was a founding member—president from fifth year upwards. We held meetings every week, let each other know when a student was suspected of joining Voldemort's ranks, or had acted against one of us, held vigils when Muggles had been killed, raised awareness, helped each other through losses… we even campaigned for Muggle Studies to become compulsory. I dare hope that the world has changed, but I'm giving you this as a tool should you ever need it."

Hermione looked through the papers quickly and then looked back at Lily.

"You are not alone," Lily said. "And you don't have to hide your Muggle-born status to fit in with the wizards at school. Wear it like a badge and tell them that you belong if they don't believe it. Make them _see_ it.."

Hermione smiled and nodded.

"I'll… I'll write to Colin, Justin, and Penelope, and all the others I know over the summer. There's probably more I don't know about," she said. "We'll restart it."

Lily smiled and returned Hermione's hug warmly.

* * *

Harry hadn't gotten off the train alone. He was holding a little house elf who was looking around the platform curiously by the hand.

"Hello again, Dobby," Lily said.

"Mistress Potter knows Dobby's name," the little house elf squeaked, before looking up at Harry. His ears wiggled in excitement and Lily smiled. "Dobby has heard so much about Mistress Potter…"

"You can call me Lily, Dobby, please," she said, kneeling to be level with the elf. "And I've heard quite a bit about you, now. I heard that you were trying to protect Harry this year."

"Dobby is very sorry," the elf said, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Dobby sees that Dobby shouldn't have done many, many things, but Dobby was only trying to keep Mr. Harry Potter safe."

"I appreciate that," Lily said. "It's a full-time job."

"Mum, given that Dobby is free now, I was wondering if he could stay with us," Harry said. Lily arched an eyebrow. She'd ask Harry how exactly that had come to be later.

"Congratulations on your freedom, Dobby," Lily said. "We would love to have you as a guest in our home, if you would like."

"Dobby has never been a guest before," the little elf squeaked nervously. "Much less in the home of such a famous and kind wizarding family as the Potters!"

"It would be our honour," Lily said.

* * *

They sandwiched Harry, piling onto his bed. Lily kept the box on her knees tightly.

"I know this was a difficult year," Lily said. "I know that as easy as it is for us to tell you to ignore the other kids, to pretend they're not whispering or spreading rumours about you… it's easier said than done."

Harry hesitated and nodded.

"We're proud of you," Sirius said. "For coming through. And we want you to know that even if you were Slytherin's Prefect and Quidditch All Star, we'd be proud of you. No matter what anybody says. So we got you this."

Lily passed over the box, and Harry looked shocked when he looked inside.

"A snake?" Harry asked.

"They're a magical breed, half corn snake and half Runespoor," Lily said. "They're warm-blooded, unlike other snakes, and they're apparently quite chatty and bright."

"We think he'll help you practise your Parseltongue," Remus said. "That's a gift, Harry. You should be proud of it, and tend to it to see how it grows."

"Hedwig's going to get jealous," Harry smiled. Lily laughed.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading! Please note that Harry's new snake friend doesn't have a name in my mind yet... if you have any ideas, hit the comment section! If you don't, please also leave a review... they make my day! _


	6. The Prisoner of Azkaban Part 1: The rat

**Author's Note: **Thank you not only for your kind words but also for your patience as life beat the shit out of me multiple times. Now that this chapter's finally here, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings: **Anxiety; PTSD; canon character death; prison.

* * *

**Stacked with:** MC4A; Shower of Words; Terms of Service; Licentious in Correct Key

**Individual Challenge(s):** Gryffindor MC (x4); Scaly Tales; Real Family; Cuppa; Golden Times; Bow Before the Blacks; Brush; Seeds; Ethnic and Present; True Colours; Small Book; The Real MC (Y)

**Representation(s): **Aurors (Tonks, Hestia Jones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Rufus Scrimgeour); fic ends around Christmas; Sunday morning traditions; Celestial Petals

**Bonus Challenge(s): **Middle Name; Mother Hen; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Second Verse (Bee Haven); Chorus (Ladylike); Demo (White Dress; Nontraditional; Found Family; Spinning Plates; Most Human Bean; Hot Apple; Dog Star; Where Angels Fear; Queen Bee; Pear-Shaped; Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Bee Haven; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Creature Feature; Surprise!; In the Trench; Forked Path; Gingersnap)

**Tertiary Bonus Challenge(s): **Poppy; Yarrow

**Word Count: **7028

* * *

5

_The Prisoner of Azkaban Part 1: A rat up the drainpipe_

"Pancake day," Remus hummed. "Harry, blueberries or chocolate chips today?"

"Oooh, this!" Lily said when ABBA came on the radio. She grabbed Remus' hands and tried to drag him into a dance.

"Lily, stop, I'm going to burn something…"

"Nonsense, Harry's watching the stove!" Lily laughed. Remus rolled his eyes but spun her around indulgently.

"Nerds," Sirius said, walking into the kitchen and heading straight for the coffee. He grabbed the can of whipped cream that had been left on the counter preemptively and sprayed some directly into his mouth. Mouth full, he added: "Harry, come here."

"That was for later!" Lily said.

"Looks like someone should have been keeping an eye on the kitchen," Sirius said, spraying more in Harry's mouth. Obviously, because it was Sirius, he also got some all over his godson's face. Harry, nearly choking, laughed, and took his glasses off to wipe the whipped cream off of them.

"Silly boys," Lily said, returning to Remus' unattended pancakes, humming along to the radio.

In other words, it could have been any other Sunday. Any other Pancake Day. That was when the doorbell rang.

"I've got it," Lily said. She was, after all, the only one wearing a t-shirt in addition to her sweatpants—one she'd probably stolen from Sirius, though the lines of what belonged to who in The Woodland had been blurred years ago.

When she opened the door, there were three people—a greying wizard with hair like a lion, a tall Black man with an earring and a younger witch with bright pink hair.

"Wotcher," the young witch said. "Are you Lily Potter?"

Lily grinned. It felt like an unnecessarily polite question given how noticeable the scar on her face was.

"I am."

"My name's Rufus Scrimgeour, Head Auror," the wild-haired man said. "Could we come in, Mrs. Potter?"

"What's the matter?" Lily asked. "I mean, sorry, of course, you can come in… Boys, we have company!"

She let the trio in and whispered something about keeping their shoes on.

Harry poked his head around the corner, Sirius on his heels.

"Hey," Sirius said, grabbing Harry's arm. "Go eat upstairs, okay?"

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Listen to Sirius, love," Lily said. "It'll just be a minute. Dobby's doing some knitting up there, why don't you bring him breakfast? You two can eat together."

With a flick of Remus' wand, Harry's breakfast and another plate of pancakes followed him up the stairs though he paused and looked over his shoulder curiously. Once they heard his bedroom door shut, Remus spoke up and led them to the living room, settling everyone down and offering tea or coffee.

"No thank you," Scrimgeour said. "Which one of you is the homeowner?"

"All of us," Sirius said. "Why do you ask?"

Scrimgeour ignored him. "Mrs. Potter, it is my duty to report to you, as a concerned party in the convict's case, that Peter Pettigrew has escaped from Azkaban."

Lily went numb.

"What do you mean he escaped," she said. She swore, her mouth had never been dryer. "That's impossible. How can he have escaped from Azkaban people don't… people don't…"

"We _told you _he was an Animagus when he got convicted," Sirius said. "A bloody small one at that, that can slip through bars!"

"It's not clear yet how Pettigrew managed to escape," Scrimgeour said. "I can assure you that we are looking into it."

"I'd sure hope so," Sirius said. "You've got more than one nutcase in there that needs shutting away—I should fucking know, I'm related to most of them."

"Okay," Remus said, putting his hand on Sirius' arm. "Okay, _how _Pettigrew escaped is only one question here, what's done is done. Do you have any leads about where he is?"

"None," Scrimgeour said. "Except perhaps this house."

"No," Lily said shaking her head. "He would never..."

"He did once," Sirius pointed out.

"_Sirius," _Remus said.

"No, he's right," Lily sighed. Her hand reached up to the wedding ring that hung around her neck. "Oh God. We have to get Harry out of here…"

"The Auror Department can protect your home," the pink-haired witch said kindly.

"No offence, I'm sure you're very good at what you do, but I've heard that before," Lily said.

"I'm sorry," the Auror said. "Truly. I can't imagine what this is like for you."

"You're sweet," Sirius said dryly. "Alright, how are you planning on catching this ass who, like I mentioned, can transform into a literal rat?"

"The Auror Department has its ways, but I'm sure that you understand that for now this is all confidential information," Scrimgeour said. "The _Daily Prophet _has found out, and there will be a press conference this afternoon. It would be incredibly helpful to the Ministry if you would appear at our side, to present a united front…"

"No."

It was Harry, standing in the doorway. Medusa, his snake, was coiled around his wrist.

"Harry, sweetheart, you need to go back upstairs," Lily said. She felt her heart in her throat.

"Peter Pettigrew broke my first family," Harry told Scrimgeour. "You don't get to use my put-together one to look good about losing him."

"Harry," Lily said again, warningly. The pink-haired witch was grinning at this, but she wiped the smile off her face when her superior turned to her.

"My name's Tonks," the witch told Harry. "Can you give me a quick tour of the house's grounds?"

Harry looked suspicious at this new tactic to get rid of him, but eventually nodded and led Tonks outside.

"The kid's got one thing right," Sirius said. "We think you're idiots for losing Pettigrew, and we're not interested in falling into any media nonsense to pretend we don't. Trust me, we just had a family meeting about it while you weren't looking."

"We think that Peter Pettigrew might have broken out of Azkaban to find your son, Mrs. Potter," Scrimgeour said.

Remus quietly took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Like we said," the Black wizard stepped in. "We can protect this house. Your son only has, what, two months before he returns to Hogwarts?"

"That's right," Lily said quietly. She nodded. "Do whatever you need to do. And if you see that rat, kill him on sight."

Remus and Sirius both gave Lily looks, but she meant it. She felt the crawling in her skin settle and harden, like armour reassembling. Something cold washed over her.

Peter Pettigrew had ruined her life once. He would not do so again.

* * *

They were having a meeting of the Harry Committee.

"How much about Pettigrew have we told Harry?" Lily asked.

"I thought that our marching orders were to say as little as possible," Remus said.

"He knows about the Fidelius curse," Sirius said. "That's it. That's all we've told him."

"There's that as a small mercy, at least," Lily said. "Okay: how do we keep him safe? He'll be at Hogwarts, so there's that, but Hogwarts has… has been dangerous before."

Neither of the men answered.

"Alright," Lily said. "I'll start. No trips to Hogsmeade."

"Lily, that's on the strict side…" Remus said quietly.

"No trips to Hogsmeade," Lily said. "That's outside the wards; somewhere that Pettigrew can access. I'm not having it. I've got half a mind to take the cloak from him to discourage him from any excursions too... Okay, what else?"

"He needs to know," Sirius said. "About Pettigrew. Knowledge is power."

"He knows what he needs to know—that this man betrayed us, that he associated with Voldemort, that he is dangerous, and that he is the reason my son has no father. Next idea?" Lily asked.

"I was offered a position at Hogwarts," Remus said quietly.

Lily and Sirius turned to him, wide-eyed.

"How long have you been sitting on that one?" Sirius said. "Congratulations!"

"Remus, you'll be a brilliant teacher," Lily said. "Is this Defense Against the Dark Arts? That's perfect for you!"

"I told Dumbledore I wouldn't take it," Remus said. "In case you've forgotten, I'm a werewolf."

"Surely Dumbledore's got a plan if he's offering this to you," Lily scoffed. Remus chewed his lip.

"Indeed he does. He says he can get Wolfsbane potion for me," Remus said.

"Brilliant!" Sirius said. "Amazing! How..?"

"I don't question Dumbledore, the man has his ways," Remus said.

"That's perfect then, Remus," Lily said.

"No parent would want their child to be educated by a werewolf," Remus said.

"This one does," Lily scoffed.

"Yes, and she's the President of the School Board, so you should trust her," Sirius said.

"Lily, please," Remus said, shaking his head. But he chewed his lip. "However… if I was to be at Hogwarts, I'd be closer to Harry."

Lily exhaled, and along with her breath an extraordinary amount of pressure flowed out of her. This was the only thing that was close to good enough.

"Amazing," she said quietly. "Thank you."

* * *

It was strange to be standing on the platform without Remus. She bumped her hip against Sirius.

"He'll be okay," she told him. "Remus."

"I know he will," Sirius said. "Once he gets that potion again…"

"He told me you'd be this worried," Lily said, looping her arm through his. "Let's go get you some food, Mr. Black. What did you want to do for lunch?"

"Lily?" Sirius said. "We've got company…"

A pair of Aurors—not Shacklebolt and Tonks, unfortunately—stood by the platform's entrance.

"Oh no," Lily sighed.

"I wonder if they've just been standing there all day, hoping for a rat," Sirius mused.

"I mean, is there a better way to look for one?" Lily asked. She chewed her lip.

"Hey," Sirius said, taking Lily's hand. "Do you remember what Remus made us promise?"

"Stay safe," Lily repeated. "Don't go looking for Pettigrew."

"Exactly," Sirius said, squeezing her hand. "Now I don't like it either and I'm still looking for a loophole to exploit, but Remus happened to be very clear and specific while formulating that promise so it might take me some time…"

Lily laughed, and Sirius grinned back to her.

"I'm just saying; it's not your job to worry about how they'll find him," Sirius said.

"It's not yours either," Lily said.

Sirius shook his head. Lily squeezed his hand.

"Sirius, it really isn't," Lily said. "It's not your fault that he did what he did—you had no way of knowing that he'd turn on us, that he would turn against those Muggles if you were to go after him…"

"But he did," Sirius said softly. "And… they're gone, twelve of them are."

The scar on her face felt numb—Lily wasn't sure if it was an honest physical reaction, or if it was her mind playing tricks on her. Ultimately, it didn't matter.

"I'm glad you're here with me," she said.

"I'm glad you're here with me too," Sirius answered. "I'd be happier if we were eating, though."

"Well for Merlin's sake, Sirius, I've been telling you all morning to pick a place!"

* * *

_She and Remus sat together in the living room. The baby had woken them up, and that was how they'd realized Sirius was missing._

"_He joined the hunt for Pettigrew, didn't he?" Lily asked for the umpteenth time._

"_If I knew, I would tell you. Honestly," Remus said, his face pained. Sirius hadn't told him either._

_Lily buried her face in her hands, wincing as she touched her new scar too roughly._

"_If Pettigrew does _anything _to him…" Lily said, her voice trembling._

_Remus didn't have anything to say. He looked deflated himself, so he simply squeezed Lily's hand before going to refill their cups of tea. Sometimes, that was all the comfort that could be given._

_They stayed like that until morning, when Harry woke up and gave them someone to look after and something to do. Neither of them had their hearts in the games he was playing, and they both jumped nearly out of their skins when there was a knock at the door. Remus answered in within a split second, and in came Dumbledore._

"_Oh God," Lily said. "Oh God, oh God, what's happened?"_

"_Sirius and Peter found each other in Manchester," Dumbledore said solemnly. "They dueled in the street. Peter tried to cause a distraction to escape and killed twelve Muggles, more are hospitalized still. Sirius didn't stop him and focused on catching him. They are both in Auror custody at the moment."_

"_Both!" Lily said. "Why..?"_

"_Lily, the Ministry understands very little of what just happened," Dumbledore said. "They'll want to investigate…"_

"_By throwing Sirius in Azkaban?" Lily choked. "No, he's—no, that's not fair…"_

"_Amelia Bones is attempting to interfere on his behalf," Dumbledore said quietly. "I have written to the Wizenmagot vouching for Sirius. We'll get him back to you three as soon as we can. For now, find solace in the fact that Pettigrew was caught."_

_Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath._

"_Twelve Muggles," Lily said. "Twelve Muggles died this morning?"_

"_I'm afraid so," Dumbledore said quietly._

_Lily shook her head. "As if he hadn't done enough dammage. First James, now…"_

_She burst into tears before she could finish, which only had the effect of setting off Harry. There was a lot of that going around; she had to remember to be strong for him._

"_Dada," Harry babbled. It was as if he knew what Lily needed too. "Dada…"_

"_Come here, love," Lily said, reaching out to pick him up. She sat him on her knee and rubbed at her eyes. Dumbledore knelt in front of Harry, who immediately reached out to grab his beard, to say hello. He asked Lily if he could pick up Harry, and she nodded meekly. _

"_Rest," he told them. "Both of you. Sirius would thank you for it. I can watch the little one for a few hours."_

* * *

"I hope my Animagus is a cat when I finally manage to transform," Lily said as they made their way up the steps to the front door, after an evening spent training in the nearby woods. There had also been a fair amount of frolicking and goofing off, to be fair, but their goal had been to get Lily one step closer to her Animagus shape.

"What, you'll just _eat _Peter Pettigrew?" Sirius asked, amused.

"I was thinking I'd be especially annoying to you if I was, but maybe I'll do that too," Lily said, unlocking the door. She stopped in the entrance. The key bowl had moved. That bowl hadn't moved in eleven years…

"_Lumos," _she breathed. She scanned the hallway once for movement before turning on the main lights…

The house was a mess. Lily saw a trail of papers coming from the hallway to her left that led to the office, the glass doors to the parlour on the right were wide open and she saw that furniture had been shifted around. The stairs leading upstairs in front of her had coats and sweaters thrown over the railing…

"_Homenum revelio!" _Sirius cast.

He walked in the house and cast several other spells, pacing across the house quickly—specialized spells he used when he was out breaking curses. To no avail. Someone had been here, but they'd gone.

"Call the Aurors," Lily said quietly. God, she hoped Tonks and Shacklebolt were on duty that night. They knew the case best.

While they waited, she crept upstairs. If she turned left at the landing, she'd climb three steps and reach the guest bedroom which, aside from the occasional visit from Remus' father, was mostly a reading or crafting room. Up three steps to the right, and there were their four bedrooms. Fury washed over her when she noticed Harry's door, open. _How dare he…_

Lily ran to it. The blankets piled on the foot of her son's bed had been thrown to the ground. A few books had been taken off the wall of bookshelves. The Holyhead Harpies poster on his wall looked untouched, as did the Gryffindor banners that Harry had pinned up on his first Christmas break home. A broken picture frame lay next to Harry's side table, and fury rose in Lily's chest when she realized that the photograph inside—one of Sirius, Remus, and James after Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup in seventh year—had been taken.

"Dobby!" she heard Sirius call downstairs. "Dobby, mate, you around?"

Guilt rose in Lily's chest—how had she forgotten Dobby?

She went down the stairs and looked to Sirius.

"Is Dobby around?"

"No," Sirius said. "His bedroom is empty, too—but his shoes are gone, so I think he was out."

Dobby had profoundly refused to take the guest bedroom upstairs when he'd moved in, saying it was too big for a small house elf. They'd emptied out the cupboard under the stairs in the kitchen, insisting that he have _some _sort of a space to himself. Over the summer, Lily had progressively snuck in fresh sheets and strings of light and a chair and dresser she'd shrunk to try and make his room nicer for him.

"That's probably lucky," Lily said quietly. "Pettigrew was here, it had to be him. Who else?"

She handed Sirius the broken frame and he shook his head.

"What was he hoping for?" Sirius asked, jaw clenched.

"Maybe he lost track of time and thought Harry would still be here," Lily said, heart beating in her throat. "He's only been gone two days…"

She quivered at the thought. God, what _if _Harry had been around?

* * *

Lily was suspicious the second she saw the wolf Patronus approaching, through the office window. It belonged to Remus, of course, but he was highly, highly selective in when he cast a corporeal Patronus. He didn't like the shape it took.

Her heart beat. Yesterday had been his first Full Moon at Hogwarts. Surely it had gone well. Surely the Wolfsbane potion had…

She cut through the kitchen and stepped outside to meet the wolf. It halted when he saw her and opened its mouth to speak: "_Harry had a Quidditch accident—will make a full recovery, broom destroyed. Dementors were at the game."_

* * *

_Dear Remus,_

_It's odd, living without you for the first time in twelve years. I know you're busy being the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Hogwarts has ever seen, but I hope we'll be able to see each other soon._

_I'm sending back an annotated copy of that lesson plan for your sixth years; I left a few comments, but overall it looks outstanding! I'd have loved to have you as a teacher. These kids are going to be so, so prepared. And the classes just look like fun too. I know Harry's been giving you raving reviews, and Neville's bragged about defeating a Boggart to his grandmother too! She's quite pleased. I knew you'd be amazing at this._

_Sirius and I are behaving. Staying put. Not going after Pettigrew. It's driving both of us mad, so if we do something rash like set the house on fire you'll know why. I know; not a funny joke since the sanctity of our home's been violated already. That being said, I have to joke or else I'd scream._

_I can't sleep. I hope you can._

_I'm trying not to let this get to my head, but the truth is Pettigrew's been there for years, dormant. And knowing that he was in our house boils my blood. He ruined my life, Remus. I make no complaints about the life I live now, but the truth is that it was built up by the ashes Pettigrew left. He killed James, for all intents and purposes. If it wasn't for him my son would have a father, I wouldn't have this scar, and I wouldn't have these nightmares either. And it was so quick last time, how everything fell apart. It feels silly to think of it as a carpet being pulled under my feet, but that's what it was and I'm so, so scared to fall again. This time though, it's long. Drawn out. Painful._

_I love my life, Remus, and I loved my life before too. I don't want Pettigrew to touch anything. It all feels like a house of cards suddenly, and he'd topple it all._

_I'm sorry to pour this out to you. Sirius would get worried, try to fix things. You've always been a good listener. I hate to make you do it now, though. I'll probably toss this letter, anyways. But you're the one who taught me that writing letters was therapeutic so here's to you and here's to hoping you're right. _

_Love,_

_Lily _

* * *

"I'm the one who put the next motion on the table," Lily said, realigning her stacks of parchments. "I think the School Board should discuss the presence of Dementors on Hogwarts' grounds and their implications for our children's wellbeing."

The parents around the table muttered amongst themselves, until one Jeremy Brown spoke up.

"There's a mass-murderer running loose in the country," he said. "I want my Lavender to get as much protection as possible—that's where I stand as a parent. And I would never recommend against a security measure put in by the Auror Department or the Ministry of Magic just because my own child kept fainting…"

Lily felt herself flush.

"Well, I'm very happy to hear that Lavender doesn't have the kind of trauma that may make Dementor attacks so particularly difficult," Lily said curtly. "We can table the motion if nobody else is interested…"

* * *

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm sorry to hear that your first weeks back have been so difficult. I'm glad you wrote to me, however. I hope the lemon bars Hedwig brought you will help, somewhat. Sirius was supposed to help me, but he got discouraged when he saw how long the ingredient list was. He's not nearly as good of a cook as Remus. _

_First off, about the Dementor attacks: I am so, so sorry you have to put up with this, love. I hated sitting by them at Pettigrew's trial. I felt like I'd never be happy again; which I was feeling quite a bit of at the time, but never when I had you close. Unfortunately, keeping your loved ones close is the only advice I can think of giving you now. If it persists, you have to tell us. Remus is closest, of course, but any teacher will do. Bring it to Dumbledore himself, if you must. And go see Madam Pomfrey if you need to; she'll understand. If you have to walk along the grounds, bring Ron or Hermione or Neville with you. Give them my best, too._

_As for Hagrid's Hippogriff, that whole incident does indeed sound like it was Draco's fault. Remember that everybody is allowed to make mistakes, so try not to resent the boy himself. This hearing does sound ridiculous, but not beneath Lucius Malfoy. Keep me updated and send my love to Hagrid. Let him know that if he needs help with his case, I'll be happy to do some research for him._

_I'm sorry that third year is so rocky, love. Keep your chin up: I'm sure it'll get better. Good luck on your next Quidditch game as well—go Gryffindor! I know it's your first game without the Nimbus 2000, but don't let the superstition get to your head. You can do this, you're a talented player, and your father's son to boot._

_On our end, everything at home is nice and quiet. Don't you worry. The squash out back is looking right on track for harvest, and I've finally convinced Sirius to let me show him how to pickle things as well. I might trick him into making crab apple jelly with me, too. He's quite restless without Remus around. All this to say; expect some extra goodies with Hedwig in a few weeks! I'll make sure to send some to Mrs. Longbottom too. _

_All my love,_

_Mum_

* * *

Lily could barely focus on the article she was submitting to _Charms Quarterly, _despite her deadline's rapid approach. She sat before her typewriter, a gift from Remus that she suspected Sirius was still somewhat afraid of, blank.

She couldn't focus on anything, she'd picked up and put down at least four different projects since she'd sat down. The only thing that came to mind was the topic of tracking charms, the construction of traps, protective enchantments to fortify a home… She wondered if it was possible to cast a Fidelius charm successfully if somebody had already broken one of yours in the past. She wondered if it was possible to enchant a weapon and send it out into the world. She wondered if the Muggle government could be convinced that a new infectious disease was being carried around by rats and prompted to lead an extensive extermination campaign. _That _was how outlandish her thoughts were getting on the subject of Pettigrew.

She looked around the office, but Remus' side of the room was empty. His desk didn't even have a stray mug on it, and there was no cardigan left on the chair.

She looked up to the ceiling, since they were under Sirius' bedroom. He'd been out on a job until 6:00 a.m. that morning. She'd just crossed him on her way downstairs to brew her first cup of coffee, and should really let him rest now.

She looked up at the photo hanging above her desk. Well, one of them anyways. The particular one that drew her eye was of James alone; sitting on a park bench in Godric's Hollow, hands tucked in his pockets against the autumn chill. It had been taken when they'd just moved to the village, months before the slightest hint of Harry was on the horizon. His hair was a hot mess, his glasses pushed too far up his nose, and his head was cocked like a puppy that had heard a new sound for the first time. He smiled at her, though. It was a Muggle photo; the moving portraits spooked Lily, and felt unfair. She liked that picture, because realistically it had been a stupid picture to take. It helped Lily from feeling as if she'd wasted the time she'd had with him, helped her avoid thinking she had been an absolute idiot for ever trusting Pettigrew. James was gone now but he'd been with her once. More than that, he'd been her partner in crime. She could regret many things, but there was solace in that, and there was solace in this picture, and there was solace in knowing that James would want her to stay put. Stay far away from Pettigrew now. Let him be somebody else's problem to solve.

She turned back to the typewriter.

* * *

When Remus walked into The Three Broomsticks, her heart swelled. When he saw her, he smiled, and wrapped his arms around her. She stood on her tiptoes to hug him.

"I've missed you so much," Lily said.

"More than I expected," Remus echoed. He kissed her hair at the same spot where he'd always kissed her hair, and Lily smiled.

"Look at you," Lily said, smiling at him. "You look so good… so well…"

Remus smiled. It had been a long, long time since Lily had seen him with so few new injuries, looking so well-rested, with colour to him, and meat on his bones… He just looked _happy _too.

"I missed that potion," he said, dropping his voice down to a whisper. "Alright; I'm supposed to be patrolling the village in case students get up to any trouble, but I see the Hufflepuff Quidditch team over there, so I suppose we have time for a drink and I'd technically be supervising students…"

They made their way to the corner, where they'd sat as students when they'd wanted to do homework while James and Sirius and Peter and whoever else were being too loud in their little group's usual booth.

Remus gushed about his work for a few minutes, but inevitably they circled back to Harry.

"He's doing okay," Remus said. "He comes to my office for tea every weekend. If he brings Neville or Ron or Hermione with him, he makes sure to come back alone later. The Dementors are affecting him, Lily. Badly."

"It's ridiculous," Lily clucked her tongue. "I knew it was worse than he was telling me…"

"He says that he can't wait for the Aurors to catch Pettigrew so that they can leave," Remus said. "He… he hears James when they're around, Lily."

Her blood chilled. She thought of bringing the butterbeer to her lips to warm herself up, but the thought of its sweetness irked her.

"And what does James say?" Lily asked, trying to sound casual. It sounded ridiculous, even to her.

Remus took a deep breath.

"He says, "Lily, take Harry and go. It's him! I'll hold him off."" Remus said, stone faced.

Lily took a deep breath.

"Those were his last words," she said. "My God, how does he...? How does he know?"

"Lily, I don't think Harry _knows _this," Remus said. "Dementors affect people in very, very strange ways."

Lily nodded.

"Does he know you're telling me this?" Lily asked.

"He asked me if those were his father's last words," Remus said. "I told him I would have to ask, if he wanted to know."

"Okay," Lily said. She nodded. "Okay, well, you can tell him."

"I will," Remus asked. "He also wishes he could come to Hogsmeade."

"Tell him that he can go to Hogsmeade once Pettigrew is captures or when Nifflers fly, whichever comes first."

Remus laughed.

"I will. Other than that, I'll keep his secrets. For example, which of the other House's Seekers he pays very, very close attention to…"

"You can't tease me with information like that!" Lily laughed. "Remus, you've got to tell me now…"

"I will do no such thing," Remus said.

* * *

"Mistress Potter?" she heard in a small voice. She turned around and there was Dobby, holding a tea tray that seemed far too big for him.

"Just Lily, Dobby," she said getting up. "Let me help you with that…"

"No, no," Dobby said. "It is Dobby's pleasure to give Mrs. Potter tea when she's had such a long night…"

Lily smiled to herself and Dobby snapped his fingers. The tray levitated up and landed perfectly on her desk. She watched it with an eagle eye; the movements were nice and even and smooth, as was the speed with which the tray made its way to her. Lily was impressed by the precision of the spell and wondered, not for the first time either, just how powerful the house elf was.

"Thank you Dobby," she said. "Come have a sit."

She saw the little elf swell up with pride at being asked to sit with a wizard. She smiled and, with a wave of her wand, brought Remus' chair closer so that he could have a sit as she poured hot water into her tea cup. Dobby had brought her the herbal tea that she was favouring at the moment.

"My favourite," she smiled at him.

"Raspberry leaves helped Dobby's former mistress when she could not sleep," Dobby said.

"I'm not your mistress, Dobby," Lily said. The elf's outfit, if anything, proved it. He had absolutely raided Harry's old clothes, and was now wearing a blue t-shirt with a dinosaur on it, a pair of jeans held up by a rainbow belt Lily had lent him, and mismatched socks.

"No," Dobby agreed. "But Mrs. Potter is Dobby's friend, and Dobby is saddened to see her sleepless and worried."

Lily smiled stiffly.

"Thank you Dobby, but I'll be okay," she promised, holding her hand out. He wrapped his hand around four of her fingers, and squeezed.

"If there is anything Dobby can ever do to help…" he said.

"It's not your responsibility to help," Lily promised. "You're here as a guest, Dobby, for as long as you'd like. We're happy to have you in our family."

* * *

"Hi," Lily said when she walked into Frank and Alice's room. Alice took her time to try and decipher Lily, and eventually she smiled. Lily held out her hand to Frank, who shook it—though he wasn't nearly as strong as he had once been.

"I brought lemon bars," Lily said, setting the tin down. Neither of them approached it, but the Healer patted Lily's hand.

"That's very thoughtful, dear," she said. "They're having a very calm day. Perhaps it would be better to sit and listen to some music?"

"That sounds lovely," Lily said. She sat in the guest chair, and let the jazz fill her up. No matter how much of the notes poured in, however, anger still found room for anger to bubble inside of her.

Pettigrew had ruined more than her life that day, after all. She could never forget that.

* * *

Lily shot up. She'd worn shorts and a tank top to bed, but still felt drenched with sweat.

She took the five minutes she needed to calm her racing heart before getting up and padding across the hallway to knock on Sirius' door. When he grunted from within, she opened the door. He propped himself up on his elbows and squinted at her.

"I—I'm having nightmares about the trial again," she said quietly. She felt silly, like a little girl who was scared of the dark.

"Well, come on then," Sirius said, groggily, shifting ever-so-slightly.

She crawled into bed with him and curled against his chest. At least now she felt stable.

"What if he really is after Harry?" Lily asked.

"I don't know," Sirius said. "But Harry's at Hogwarts."

"He's been hurt at Hogwarts before."

"Well, Remus is there now," Sirius said.

A beat.

"I don't see Peter tracking down Harry," Lily said. "He has to know that we're watching him. Peter's a coward. He's ignoble. There's nothing in him that would push him to finish what he started, that would make him want this enough…"

"He wants _something," _Sirius said. "But you're right. I don't buy the _Prophet's _fearmongering about Wormtail finishing what he started with Harry."

Lily sighed and Sirius pushed her hair up. He must have noticed the cold sweat she was drenched with.

"Lily, we can get you another sleeping potion if you need…"

"I'm fine," Lily said. "I'm better already, I promise."

"Okay," Sirius said. "Wake me up if you need anything."

"Okay. You're the best."

"I know. _Owe, _don't kick!"

Lily laughed.

* * *

"Don't panic," Tonks said when Lily answered the door.

"That was the one thing you could have said that would've made me panic," Lily breathed.

"To be fair, you panic every time you see me," the Auror winked.

"What happened?"

"There's been a break-in at Hogwarts. The castle's being searched from top to bottom, and we have no way to prove that it was Pettigrew's, but I thought you should know."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Sirius said, having wandered into the hallway when he'd heard Tonks' voice.

"Where's—"

"Harry's in the castle, like the other students, sleeping in the Great Hall," Tonks said. "I had to leave because I've worked over 48 bloody hours which definitely busted our cap, but last I saw Remus had signed up to keep watch on the Hall all night."

Lily buried her face in her hands.

"How?" Lily said. "How in the _world _did he manage...? This is ridiculous, I'm writing to Dumbledore Sirius, I have to pull Harry out…"

"Whoa," Sirius said. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You will do no such thing. Could you imagine how badly that would scare Harry? Besides; it's not like this house is safe either…"

Lily sighed, shaking her head.

"I'll tell you everything that I can, if you want," Tonks said.

"You said you're off of work," Sirius said. "Why are you here?"

"I thought you should know," Tonks said simply. "My parents were under constant threat during the Wizarding War. For a Pureblood to run away with a Muggleborn... I was young, but I remember what my parents went through—the hiding, the worry, the constant fear... I… I think it's utterly unfair that you lot of all people have to worry about all of this again, and thought you deserved to be up to date if anything. _Prophet's _going to be all over it by morning. That's all."

"I appreciate that," Lily said softly. "Come in, let's… we should make tea."

* * *

The Pettigrew sightings spread like wildfire throughout the country. Lily tuned them out: she didn't care enough to keep track anymore, and it was just too exhausting. The next one that she _did _entertain was in mid-November, when _The Prophet _reported a break-in in the Ministry of Magic.

Hestia Jones and Tonks, the two Aurors who were assigned to conduct a check-in and a sweep of The Woodlands, confirmed it.

"Just like _The Prophet _said, ma'am," Jones nodded.

"I've been in _The Prophet _often enough not to trust it," Lily smiled. "The fact that Fudge hasn't commented on it himself also got me suspicious…"

"Well, it's incredibly embarrassing," Jones said. "Even the debrief they gave the Aurors was short and sweet, didn't even tell us what department had been broken into."

"Surely, you've got your suspicions," Lily said. "They must have increased security somewhere, at least..?"

"Of course, we have our thoughts," Tonks said. "But we can't tell you that. Sorry, Lily."

"I understand," Lily said. "Here, we have some Christmas baking for you to bring back to the Department…"

Just because she didn't _like _the Aurors didn't mean she couldn't sympathize. It must be hard, working over Christmas.

"You're so sweet, Mrs. Potter," Jones said. "Are you trying to guilt us into telling you all our secrets?"

"I wouldn't oppose to that," Lily smiled.

"By the way, do you know if Remus is staying at Hogwarts this Christmas or coming home?" Tonks asked.

Lily noticed how Jones rolled her eyes but smiled at her friend.

"He's staying at the castle, actually," Lily said. What she _wasn't _going to tell them was that he would be doing that to weather through a transformation with the help of Wolfsbane. Harry was staying in the castle with him, which Lily thought was quite kind of him. "Why do you ask?"

"Yeah, Tonks, why do you ask?" Jones said teasingly. Tonks elbowed her, shooting her a look.

"No reason," Tonks asked. "Just curious."

"Curious about whether or not she should pick up some overtime shifts is more like it," Jones grumbled. She ducked Tonks' swatting hand this time. "Anyways, thanks for the scones Mrs. Potter, we'll get out of your legs now!"

Lily watched the two Aurors Apparate away and made a mental note to ask Remus about their Auror friend in her next letter.

For now, she circled back into the parlour. Sirius sat, obsessing over _The Prophet. _They were both growing increasingly guilty of that.

"It's real, at least," Lily said.

"I heard."

Sirius leaned back in the couch and scratched at his beard.

"I've been thinking about it, long and hard Lily, and… It's him, Lily," Sirius said. "It's got to be Pettigrew."

"What makes you say that?"

"Once a year, the Ministry brings in the top ten curse breakers in the country to try and break into the Department of Mysteries," Sirius said. "They pay us all for coming out, but there's a hefty, hefty reward for managing to get past the department's defenses. I've been there seven times, and never have I seen anyone get in."

"So why would Pettigrew?" Lily asked.

"There's one way to get in that I never got to try, for obvious reasons," Sirius said. "It's got to do with the Unspeakables. Their magical footprints are synched to the department's security charms, but it's more extensive than that. They can make their way nearly anywhere within the Ministry without setting off any of the security spells or alarms. They have just as much clearance at the Aurors. Pettigrew would have had access while he worked there."

"Surely, they would have revoked his authorization after the trial," Lily said.

"Why would they? He was sent to Azkaban," Sirius said. "People don't leave Azkaban, Lily. You don't have to change the locks if someone can't get to your door."

Lily felt dizzy for a moment.

"You have to… you have to send an owl to—to whoever can…"

"I will," Sirius said. "But I don't think it'll get looked into. You heard Tonks: the Ministry is embarrassed. The most wanted man in Britain just waltzed into their most secret bureau. If we've learned anything with the Ministry, when it comes to Death Eaters in particular, it's that they don't take kindly to criticism and pointers."

The shadow passed through Sirius' eyes, as it always did when Azkaban came up.

"Why did he do that?" Lily asked. "Why would he risk going right into the Ministry?"

"Maybe he left something there," Sirius said. "Maybe there was something there he could take. Look, Lily, for all we know he doesn't have a wand and needed to take his back. Heaven knows we didn't keep any of his things."

Lily chewed on the knuckle of her pinky finger. It was an old habit, from when she'd been a little girl. James had gently moved her away from it; he used to kiss her hand whenever she did it. The habit had taken its roots again, now.

"You know what this means, Sirius," Lily said.

"What?"

"We have to go after him," Lily said. "Promises to Remus, be damned. We've sat nicely and tried to let the Ministry solve it, and six months later they've made little to no progress. Meanwhile, we're being babysat by Aurors who, delightful as Tonks and Jones are, aren't helping. He's gotten much too close to Harry, he's brought Dementors to Hogwarts, and Harry hears… It's like being haunted. And I will not be haunted by Peter Pettigrew."


	7. Part II: Mapping All The Lost Things

**Author's Note: **I am so, _so _sorry that this took this long to come out. My life went a bit haywire and the multi-chapter projects that need ridiculous things like _plots _are the first things to bite the dust unfortunately. Nevertheless, thank you for all your support and reviews! Here it is!

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings: **PTSD-related nightmare

**Beta: **Bailey, thank you kindly!

* * *

**Stacked with: **MC4A; Shipping War; Animal Verses; Tasty Yandras; Ornate Oscillating Obelisks

**Individual Challenge(s): **Cracked Facade; Scaly Tales; Gryffindor MC (x4); Bow Before the Blacks; Stolen Plot; Spring Rain; Seeds; Golden Times; Old Shoes; Themes and Things A (Secrets); Themes and Things B (Risk); Trope it Up C (Secret Relationship); The 3rd Rule (Y); True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; Real Family; Long Haul; The Real MC

**Representation(s): **Remus Lupin; Christmas vacation; Easter vacation

**Bonus challenge(s):** Creature Feature; No Touchy; Enfant; Second Verse (Unicorn); Chorus (Unwanted Advice; Brooms Only)

**Tertiary bonus challenge: **Orator

**List (Prompt): **Service Multi-Word Prompt (Getting Caught)

**Word Count: **3744

* * *

_**Shipping Wars**_

**Ship (Team): **Nymphadora Tonks/Remus Lupin (Technicolour Moon)

**List (Prompt): **Summer Medium 2 (Different First Meeting)

* * *

7.

_Part II : Mapping All the Lost Things _

"Remus has a girlfriend," Harry informed them as soon as they sat down for lunch after picking him up from the train station.

Sirius made a loud sound, something like a guffaw but with more pep.

"What makes you say that, love?" Lily said.

"Tonks—you know, the Auror that we don't hate?" Harry asked. "Yeah, she's assigned to patrol the school a lot and he always brings her tea and walks with her and things."

Lily and Sirius exchanged glances over the table. Sirius threw an arm over Harry's shoulders.

"Oh, having you home is _fantastic," _he said with a grin. "Go on; tell us more."

* * *

Lily sat down on the reading chair next to Harry's bed, and rested her chin on her hand.

"How are you, love?" she asked.

"I'm good," he said, closing the book he was reading. Medusa the snake was draped over his shoulder. Lily wasn't necessarily a big fan of snakes, but she recognized how much her son was happy to be reunited with his pet—who unfortunately fell off the list of accepted pets at Hogwarts and therefore had to stay home.

"I'm happy to be home."

"I'm happy you're home too," Lily said. "School sounded… school sounded unpleasant, this term."

Harry hesitated, but nodded.

"It was like I wasn't at home at Hogwarts."

"I'm sorry."

"Ron and Hermione are fighting all the time. Neville and I don't know what to do. It's about her cat..."

"Okay," Lily said.

"And I hate Divinations class. Trelawney keeps telling me I'm going to die tragically."

"Of course she is," Lily sighed.

"I want to go to Hogsmeade. Wood is driving us mad at Quidditch and I feel so bad for falling off my broom and putting us behind in scores and I know that he's not trying to make me feel bad but I do, I really do, we were supposed to win the Cup this year. I'm not doing well in Flitwick's classes at all and I know Charms is your favourite. The Dementors are everywhere which means that there's nobody there to breathe. Malfoy's even worse than usual. I'm worried about you and Sirius because I don't want you looking for Pettigrew. Buckbeak has to go to trial and we don't know how to help Hagrid. Also, I like a boy."

That last complaint obviously hadn't been supposed to come out with the rest of the laundry list, and Harry looked surprised by himself.

"Right," Lily said. She shifted from the chair to the bed and wrapped her arms around Harry.

"As far as Ron and Hermione are concerned, that's not your responsibility. Don't get involved in drama that isn't yours. They'll figure it out, but make sure they know that it's bothering you and Neville. As for Trelawney, ignore her. She used to say the same thing to everyone in our grade; if you can make it through this year, you can drop Divinations, I promise. Charms isn't supposed to be easy; if there's a way for me to help, I'll be really happy to do that. I'm so, so sorry about the Dementors. That… you shouldn't have to deal with that. Nobody should. Short of pulling you out of Hogwarts, there's nothing I can do about that and I'm so sorry."

Harry nuzzled into her shoulder.

"And as for liking a boy; you have a gay uncle two doors down, and a bisexual uncle at school," Lily said, resting her chin on top of his head. "You should probably talk to them; they'll know how to answer your questions and talk you through it best. But I'm here to say I love you, and I love you always."

She felt him relax in her arms, and kissed his hair.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Do I get to know who this boy is?"

"No," Harry said, pulling back. "I'm not telling you!"

"Oh come on," Lily said. "Why not?"

"Because… I don't know, it's just weird!"

Lily laughed. "Is he a Quidditch player?"

Harry's jaw dropped. "How did you..?"

Lily laughed some more and ruffled his hair.

"Because _of course, _he would be," Lily smiled.

It was a good thing Remus was at that school. He'd help her figure this out.

* * *

Now that Harry was safely back in school, they began hunting down Peter Pettigrew.

He was a rat; a small and crafty creature containing a still craftier man. They may as well have lost a needle in a haystack, but Lily and Sirius looked.

They were determined to find him.

* * *

Lily sat in Dumbledore's office, not for the first time nor, she suspected, the last.

She leaned back in her seat.

"So you agree then," she said. "You think it's Pettigrew who broke into the castle?"

"I do," Dumbledore said. "I hope you can appreciate the complexity of barring the castle against a rat."

"Call back the Dementors," Lily said. "If you admit that they don't work, at least they can stop torturing the students."

"I would if I could," Dumbledore said. "Believe me, I want these foul creatures nowhere near this school. But the Ministry has tied my hands on this front."

Lily sighed.

"I can give you the happy news that the Ministry has decided to provide Harry with a permanent guard," Dumbledore said.

"That's… Why wasn't I consulted? Who thought of that? He doesn't like strangers," Lily said.

"I do believe that he knows Nymphadora Tonks quite well," Dumbledore said.

The tension in Lily's shoulders practically melted away.

"Okay," she said. "We do like Tonks."

"She's lovely," Dumbledore agreed. "And will keep Harry safe."

"She'll do her damned best, I know it, but there's always something at Hogwarts," Lily said, twisting her hands together.

* * *

They looked at where Mrs. Pettigrew's house had once stood. It had been torn down and replaced by a parking lot.

"Not here," Lily said, shaking her head.

"We'll keep looking," Sirius said. "Padfoot has a good nose that goes well with my tracking spells. Once we find a lead, we'll have it."

* * *

"Evans," Sirius said.

She shot up, breathless, and clung to him reflexively. He put a hand on her shoulder and another on her waist, grounding her.

"Hey," he said. "Hey, deep breaths here… Deep breaths…"

Lily closed her eyes and rested her forehead against him.

"It's the trial again," Lily said. "I keep dreaming of it. About how we all had to testify—about how I snapped at Pettigrew when he lied about the Fidelius Charm, about how I cried on the stand, about how I told Mrs. Pettigrew I never wanted to see her again, about how Harry was crying by the end of it, about the Dementors everywhere… Oh God, Sirius, what if that's why the Dementors affect him so much? Because he was exposed as a baby? And in the dream Pettigrew is convicted, but then he turns into a rat and slips away and…"

"You need to take a deep breath," Sirius said. "It was a dream, Lily. You didn't do anything wrong at the trial, or in that dream… do you want to sleep with Padfoot tonight?"

Lily took a deep breath.

"If you don't mind."

Sirius nodded, and made her drink from the glass of water on her bedside. Then he tucked her back in, turned into a dog, and came to snuggle up against her.

* * *

_Dear Lily and Sirius,_

_As per usual, I miss both of you but am writing too quickly with too good news to dally on salutations._

_Harry produced a patronus today. It was a project we were working on after hours, to try and build up his confidence around the Dementors and he did it! It was non-corporeal, naturally, but as I told him the mere fact that he managed it is extraordinary._

_He was quite proud of himself. Please don't tell him that I spoiled his good news and act surprised when he writes it to you himself. I was just so very proud. I had to share._

_All my love,_

_Remus _

_PS — Dora says hello._

"Dora," Sirius said, frowning at the letter.

"I think that might be short for Nymphadora," Lily whispered back.

"Scandalous," Sirius gasped, making her laugh.

"That's our Moony," Lily grinned.

* * *

She was drenched in sweat by the time Sirius told her to stop. They'd built the obstacle course in the backyard and she'd been going at it for hours; jumping the fence, walking along a row of tires, crawling under a rope bridge… He'd been running alongside her in his Animagus form, as if it would inspire her, but was finally calling in defeat. He returned to his human form.

"It helped _me _when I was starting to transform_," _Sirius said.

"It was a good workout," Lily said, panting. "But I don't feel any closer to taking on an animal shape than I did when we started this…"

"And you smell," Sirius noted. She smacked his arm.

"I wish Moony was my teacher."

"Well, unluckily for you, he's with the youths," Sirius said, sticking his tongue out.

* * *

They were lurking in the bad part of Knockturn Alley. Lily kept her cloak's hood low—she was far too recognizable, and the scar sprawled across her face was impossible to hide. Sirius was doing all the talking. He tapped her arm thrice after talking with one particularly strange character—their cue to head back to The Three Broomsticks.

Lily threw her hood back. "And?"

"Nothing," Sirius said. "Even amongst ex-Death Eaters, Pettigrew is an enormous mystery."

"Ex?" Lily asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean," Sirius sighed. "Drink your butterbeer, Evans. We'll have to think of something else."

* * *

_Dear Mum,_

_Buckbeak's trial was today and he lost. Hagrid is so sad and I don't know how to make him feel better because it's really not fair that Buckbeak is going to get killed, so I don't feel right telling him that everything is okay. Hermione is at the library right now because she says that there must be a legal precedent that can help out, and Neville went to help even if he wasn't so sure. Ron and I don't think it'll help—Ron partially because he's mad at her cat again for dragging a dead mouse onto his pillow, but me because I just really don't think so. Why is justice broken like this? So that Peter Pettigrew is somewhere out there but they're going to take away Buckbeak forever._

_I'm so mad, Mum, I don't know what to do. It's not the most unfair thing that's ever happened, but still. Tonks agrees with us (but she says we're not allowed to repeat it since she works for the Ministry and should be impartial), and she taught Ron and I all about the Wizarding World's justice system. It was really nice of her because she stayed past her shift to do it, but I didn't feel better. At least I knew exactly how the broken-ness works now._

_I love you, sorry for venting._

_Harry_

* * *

At Easter, Remus came home with Harry and Lily couldn't help but feel relieved as they all sat around the kitchen table on that first night back. She'd made grilled cheese sandwiches, Harry's favourite, and she'd opened a bottle of wine since Remus didn't drink while he was at Hogwarts. Of course, this brought an end to their weekly searches for Pettigrew, which made Lily somewhat antsy. But all her people were home.

After supper, Harry rushed back upstairs to catch up with Medusa, and the three of them retired to the living room. Lily saw an Auror standing outside, at the end of the driveway, and got up to draw the curtains.

"Which one is it now?" Sirius asked.

"Looks like that one named Richards who picks his nose," Lily mused.

"Disgusting," Sirius said.

"There's no way he's done it in front of you," Remus said, smile teasing his lips.

"Lily swears she saw it."

"I did!" Lily said. "And then I offered tea anyways."

"You're too nice, Evans," Sirius said. "But on the subject of less disgusting Aurors…"

"Oh yes," Lily smiled, spinning around. "So: _Dora."_

Remus rolled his eyes.

"I knew I should have stayed at the castle," he said.

"How would you tell us all about her if you had?" Lily asked. "Do it now while you're sober, or we'll talk you into it in a few glasses. Your choice."

* * *

Neville and Harry were sitting in the living room, digging into the chocolates they'd found hidden all over the house that morning. Lily knew how strict Augusta Longbottom could be (she'd heard enough from Alice back in the day) and so she was more than willing to let Neville have chocolate for breakfast on Easter. Remus was making her laugh, whispering outlandish strategies in her ear about how best to steal chocolate from the two boys when a loud knock on the door broke the morning.

Lily went to open, but Sirius put a hand on his arm, shook his head, and went.

"What now?" she heard him say. Lily heard the door open wider and heavy footsteps as two Aurors, one of whom was Rufus Scrimgeour himself, burst into the room.

"For fuck's sake, some manners would help," Sirius called behind them. "Neville, don't tell your grandmother I taught you 'fuck.'"

"Yes, Mr. Black," Neville squeaked.

"Happy Easter," Lily said. "Let's start there, gentlemen. Can we turn to the kitchen to…"

"We have to search the house again," Scrimgeour said.

"On what grounds?" Remus asked more rationally behind him.

"You had previously testified that you had nothing of Peter Pettigrew's in your possession," Scrimgeour said.

"We don't," Lily said. "The Aurors took everything of his in as evidence when he was arrested; have you forgotten so quickly?"

"Our tracking spells have led us here," Scrimgeour said. He raised his wand. "_Accio objectus homini cupiditatem."_

Lily wasn't sure what to expect until she heard the door of what could only be Harry's room, by the awful squeak of it, open. Then, flying down the stairs, came a tattered piece of parchment.

"Bloody hell…" Sirius said.

"It can't be," Remus added. Both of their eyes were wide and shocked, and once Lily recognized the object before them she realized why.

"Is that..?"

"The Marauder's Map," Sirius said. "I thought it was lost."

"Filch mustn't have destroyed it after all," Remus said.

"You know what this is, then?"

"It's a toy," Remus said. "A toy we made while we were at Hogwarts, with the help of our friend James Potter. Peter Pettigrew was also involved in the object's creation."

"And what exactly does this do?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Why don't you cast a revealing charm on it and find out?" Sirius said, grinning coyly.

Lily sighed, knowing what would follow. If Scrimgeour didn't hate them enough as it were…

Words appeared on the parchment, first in Remus' neat and eligible cursive.

_Mr. Moony would like to congratulate Mr. Scrimgeour on his most excellent find and does maintain that the Head Auror's ability to defeat decade-old pieces of paper is indeed nothing short of a complement to his most illustrious department._

Scrimgeour's eye twitched, but Lily was too busy admiring what she so easily recognized as James' frantic scrawl as it appeared.

_Mr. Prongs agrees wholeheartedly with Mr. Moony and would like to add that even by his very, very low standards, Mr. Scrimgeour's hair is an absolute wreck that gives the appearance that he has been locked up in Azkaban for weeks himself. Should this be a tactic to blend in with criminals and gain their trust, Mr. Prongs would like to salute this clever maneuver._

Lily couldn't help but snicker.

_Mr. Padfoot would like to ask Mr. Scrimgeour whether or not "AUROR" is an acronym for "Absolutely Useless Reduction Of Ministry Reliability." The extra 'M' in there really does ruin the acronym, but if anything Mr. Padfoot believes that this is emblematic._

_Mr. Wormtail would like to suggest that Mr. Scrimgeour learn a few manners before knocking down doors at absurd times, though by the looks of him perhaps Mr. Scrimgeour was raised in a barn and truly cannot help himself._

And with that, the ink disappeared.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"We called it the Marauder's Mocker," Remus said. "It's a paper that insults its holder. Surely, you can understand why this was an amusing asset to a group of schoolboys…"

Scrimgeour's jaw locked. "It is strangely eloquent."

"That's thanks to James; he had quite the extensive vocabulary," Sirius said.

Scrimgeour looked about to burst. "And you did not think to signal to the Auror department that you had this in your possession?"

"The Marauder's Mocker did not belong to Pettigrew," Sirius said. "We all had a hand in its making, and for a very long time we were unaware of its location."

"It's mine now," Harry chimed in, getting to his feet.

"Harry," Lily warned. How many times had she told him not to talk to Aurors?

"Some other students stole it from Mr. Filch's cabinet, the one where he keeps confiscated items," Harry said. "They gave it to me."

"And why is that?" Scrimgeour asked.

"You will watch your tone when addressing my son who is, may I remind you, a child," Lily hissed.

Scrimgeour hesitated, and then knelt before Harry.

"Why didn't you tell a grown-up about this?" he asked.

"She said I was a child, not an idiot," Harry sassed back. "I didn't tell anyone because the—the Mocker was stolen."

Scrimgeour took a deep breath. "Surely, you knew the meanings of the names you saw on the parchment. Moony and Sirius—your uncles, Prongs—your late father, and Wormtail…"

"Pettigrew," Harry said. "Yeah. But like I said, that was stolen. I didn't want to get in trouble, and it's like Sirius said, it doesn't belong to Pettigrew. I… I thought my father might want me to have it."

Lily's stomach twisted. She couldn't tell if this was just Harry playing his cards right, or if he honestly believed this.

Regardless, it got rid of Scrimgeour.

* * *

She closed the door behind the party of Aurors, and gave her boiling blood a second to cool. When it didn't, she proceeded to go to the living room anyways where the four boys were waiting.

"I just noticed that we're out of eggs," Lily said. "Sirius, Remus, Neville—why don't you take a walk to the corner shop and get some?"

"All three of us, Mrs. Potter?" Neville asked nervously.

"Yes sweetheart, it's a three person job," Lily said. Her cool tone must have said enough, because the three of them packed up. Sirius put a hand on Lily's arm on his way out and she shrugged him off.

The door shut, leaving her and Harry alone in the living room.

She raised the parchment.

"You are so, so lucky that Remus and Sirius are such tremendous liars," Lily said. "Because you and I both know exactly what this is. Why do you have it?"

Harry took a deep breath. "I wasn't lying. Two students gave it to me…"

"Who?"

Harry set his jaw.

"Don't lie to me," Lily snapped. "Not more than you have. Who was it?"

Harry looked afraid for a second. He was so rarely in trouble.

"Fred and George," Harry said quietly.

"And why did they give it to you?" Lily said, crossing her arms.

Harry opened his mouth but nothing came out.

"I married one of the men who made this and the other two are my best friends," Lily said. "Don't you think I know just how many secret passages it shows? How much damage it could do if it fell in the wrong hands—Pettigrew's himself, since he knows about the map oh-so-well."

Harry frowned. "I just wanted to go to Hogsmeade…"

"My God," Lily said, dropping her arms and looking away.

"If you'd just let me from the start!"

"How?" Lily said. "How did you get away from Tonks to do it?"

"Saturdays are her days off," Harry said. "The other Aurors are… well, dull, and they… they don't know me. I tell them I have headaches and want to go lie down."

"You tell them you have headaches," Lily nodded. "Wonderful. And so if something were to happen to you in Hogsmeade, who exactly would know to come help you?"

"I never go alone," Harry said, defensively. "Ron and Hermione and Neville…"

"Are children!" Lily snapped. "And so are you, but this… you should have known better than this. We have been so, _so _honest with you about who Pettigrew is and how good he is at getting in and out of places and situations that he should have been in. We told you _everything _about his trial, about the pain he caused… Your father is dead because of him, and both of us could be as well."

"I know!" Harry snapped back.

"Well, _act like it," _Lily said. "Think about the threat. Think about how we're doing all of this for your safety. If your father were here, he would be outraged—believe me Harry, you're getting it easy from me comparatively."

Harry looked stunned for a second. Lily suspected that she'd gone too far but her heart was beating in her chest.

"The boys will be back soon, and I don't want to do this in front of them, but there's nothing more to be said," Lily told him. "I'll be telling Tonks about your charades with her colleagues, and McGonagall as well. You'll sit in detention every weekend if that's what it takes, and you can bet your broomstick that I'll be holding on to this and your cloak when you return to Hogwarts after Easter."

Harry paled. "The cloak… The cloak's mine. It was my father's."

"Your father would do whatever it takes to keep you safe," Lily said. "Believe me, it's a conversation we've had. It's a sacrifice and a night we've lived, and this is a poor way to repay him."

Harry's face fell more.

"When I saw his name on the map… I thought I should use it," Harry said. "Because it was his."

"You thought wrong," Lily said. "There will be no discussion on this, or else I'll be pulling you out of school entirely, is that understood?"

Harry gulped. She saw tears welling up in his eyes that perhaps mirrored the angry tears she felt in her own.


End file.
